Cathy's Art Diary

Clever installation at Tate Britain combining the old restaurant murals by Rex Whistler with a video commenting on them by Keith Piper. The murals have presented the gallery with some problems as they include some difficult images particularly stereotypical depictions of people of colour. The video, which is shown in the old restaurant space with the mural, presents an imagined conversation between Rex Whistler and a fictional modern academic in which Whistler describes the context of the painting and she challenges him on the images. It places the work within the context of the upper class Arcadian thinking of the time and introduces you to Whistler’s friends who appear in the mural. However it also points out that the offensive imagery was not a one off in his work. I found the discussion more nuanced than I expected and engaging with well-developed characters and arguments. Given the room was dark to show the video, it would have been nice if the room could be illuminated b...

Interesting talk at the Charleston festival bringing together Pat Barker talking about her novel “Toby’s Room” and Hugh and Mirabel Cecil talking about their biography of Rex Whistler as both books featured art teacher and surgeon, Henry Tonks. I had read the Pat Barker book and really enjoyed it so it was very interesting to hear her talk about the creative process and reading a section. Hugh Cecil gave a nice outline of the life of Rex Whistler. The talks were then followed by a conversation about Tonks and his influence. The questions after were fascinating as members of the audience remembered Whistler and could give first hand memories of him. A magical event.