Cathy's Art Diary

Moving exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery of photographs by teenagers from around the world. The show was a pop up from the charity Street Child who hosted photography workshops in five countries with 15-year-olds complimenting the charity’s education programmes in those countries. Most of the work followed that same theme of the role of education and what it meant to the teenagers. The participants mainly photographed their friends and family but I found the commentaries by the teenagers interesting. I was brought up short by a comment from a girl in Nepal “Those who haven’t received education are often victims of dowry.” Closed 29 October 2023  

Delightful exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery of photographs of leopards organised by Remembering Wildlife. This show supported the eighth book in this organisation’s series to raise money for the conservation of wildlife. This one focuses on leopards and including some stunning images. I loved the pictures of black leopards by Sharon Wild and Will Burrard-Lucas. You have to look very closely to see the beautiful markings in their coats. My favourite picture was of a leopard leaping between trees by June Adley which had captured the cat mid-flight. Close 15 October 2023

Poor exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery organised by the Blackout Gallery of work by contemporary artists. I’m sorry if this entry is going to sound quite negative but I felt little thought was shown in how to show off the work of some interesting artists. There was no introductory information. Looking at the website it says it “delves into the themes of change and transformation” But it would have been nice to be told that in the show and have that aspect of the work highlighted. From looking at the work I assumed the theme was artists of East Asian descent which it may been as well. The labels for each artist and work were long, in tiny typeface, and didn’t hold your interest. There were two girls on duty but neither said hello or tried to draw you in. There was even a carrier bag of packing materials left in the gallery space. I’d like to think it was an artwork but I don’t think it was! Sadly I’ve come away with no extra knowledge of these artists. The piece which most caug...

Delightful exhibition at gallery@oxo of photographs by Roger Hooper. These were stunning wildlife photographs in sharp focus seemingly catching hidden moments. My favourite pictures were off a black leopard who was so regal. At first glance you assumed it was a panther but when you looked closely you saw the leopard markings in the black fur. So beautiful. Closed 6 August 2023

Interesting small exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery looking at community action in the Blackfriars area of Southwark in the 1970s. I don’t know the area well enough to appreciate this show properly but it did bring back that period to me by looking at objections to property developments in the area against the background of the 1973 property boom and bust. It also looked at campaigns to demolish squalid tenement buildings and rehouse the residents. It used lots of archive material from the time including campaign produced magazines and some great photographs. It was amusing that some of the projects they were objecting to have since become iconic including the redevelopment of the Oxo Tower were the show was being held. Closed 16 January 2022

Excellent exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery of wildlife photographs by Roger Hooper. These were stunning, sharply focused images shown in a large scale prints. His pictures of birds were particularly beautiful including some lovely ones of penguins against a clear blue sky.   There was great sequence of two leopards play fighting in one of which he caught a wonderful curve in one animals body as it jumped out of the undergrowth. Closed 18 August 2019

Lovely exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery of five artists inspired by the River Thames. Three of the artists used metal as the surface for their work. LoveJordon painted city scenes on aluminium allowing the shiny surface of the metal to be the sky or features of the buildings, Muleen Sibia printed photographs on metal and Michael Wallner printed scenes on metal including a wonderful picture of the Thames Barrier with a pink sky. Sarah Fosse had bright picture with a watery wave to the scene both in buildings as well as their reflections and Tom Cox painted big bold scenes of live along the river. Closed on 11 September 2017