Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their current exhibition focusing on Paula Rego’s mural from the restaurant. I had seen the show shortly before so it was really useful to spend an hour with Priyesh Mistry, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Projects at the gallery, learning a bit more about how it was commissioned, who the figures are in it and how it was painted. I liked the way he guided us across the picture telling us a bit about the iconography of the women represented and how Rego’s take on them was sometimes different He also told us about the members of the education team at the gallery who had modelled for Rego during her period as artist in residence in the early 1990s which led to this commission. Mistry also talked about how Rego wanted to use this work to introduce more women into the imagery of the gallery and to have a female view point represented.

Useful online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their new installation by contemporary artist Nalini Malani. Priyesh Mistry, head of contemporary projects at the gallery, explained the contemporary fellowship that this installation forms part of and how Nalini Malani was chosen for the fellowship because of her work based on art history. He took us though three of her previous works, outlining their themes and influences then talked us through the current show which I have seen since. He talked about how she has taken 25 paintings from the gallery and 3 from the Holborne Gallery in Bath and how these and projected in an animation chamber with overlaid drawings by her emphasising different aspects of the work particularly those we may now find difficult. Each projector has a different rhythm so the work is endlessly changing. This talk was useful as I must admit I’m not sure I would have got all the nuances from just seeing it but you’ll have to wait for my review of ...