Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at Two Temple Place looking at the ceramic traditions of Black women. The show also looked at the evolution of ceramics from purely domestic objects to fine art. In places the story could have been told more clearly however it is a difficult venue to display in so information boards were not always directly with the display cases they referred to. The show started by looking at the work of Ladi Kwaki   and how the pottery of the Gwari ethnic group is taught in female line There was a large section on the Pottery Training Centre set up by Michael Cardew, a pupil of Bernard Leach in 1950 founded the   centre. He aimed to introduce ceramic techniques to men to make for new middle class market. The show also focused on people who had trained at the centre and their legacy such as George Sempagala who worked in Uganda. Upstairs there was a section called the Politics of Clay, which looked at how three contemporary artists have looked at clay in a rad...

Fascinating exhibition at Two Temple Place examining the collection of textiles by women.  This show looked at the collections of seven women organising them roughly chronologically and by collector, telling you a bit about the woman and why they collected then showcasing items from those collections. He clothes spanned four hundred years and most of the world.   The show introduced me to some great characters and well as including some beautiful textiles. I think my favourite ladies were the early ones. I liked Louisa Pesel, an embroider from Bradford, who started the Bradford Khaki Club in 1917 for injured First World War soldiers and taught them how to sew and embroider and later on worked at Winchester Cathedral and led a project to create 360 kneelers. I loved Olive Matthews who started collecting pre-Victorian clothes with her pocket money. She never paid more than £5 for a piece and amassed 3000 items. She reminded me of when I collected vintage clothes...

Fantastic exhibition at Two Temple Place looking at the life and work of John Ruskin to mark 200 years since his birth. This exhibition borrowed items from lots of places but was centred on Guild of St George Collection now at Sheffield Museum. It was arranged chronologically starting with his being given a book of etchings by Turner aged 13 which sparked his interest in art. He was already a child prodigy and the show included a map of Scotland her drew at 9. I was amazed at the detail in his watercolours and drawings. His style changed from trying to express the sublime in landscape to recording the detail of architecture and nature. Of course I loved the section on Venice which as well as having his drawings also included photographs he commissioned from Frederick Crawley, one of the casts of details he had made and watercolours from John Wharton Burney. I loved the latter’s huge picture of the façade of St Mark’s. It was a nice touch to have also borrowed the pictu...

Lovely exhibition at Two Temple Place looking at the popularity of jazz in Britain in the early 20th century and it’s influence on art and society. This show was nicely curating, pulling objects from all over the UK and taking a broad view of the subject. The downstairs room focused on the music with features on “In Dahomey” the first all-black show on Broadway which transferred to London in 1903 and the popularity of banjo playing, I loved the advert for the banjo teacher juggling said instrument! On the landing there were interesting information boards looking at the main artists and how a ban on American bands coming to Britain in the mid-1930s influenced the music. The upstairs room then looked at the social and artistic impact of the music. I loved the section on dancing and the lovely display of shoes along with the ceramics and textiles influenced by the music. There was a good use of paintings throughout the show including two by William Roberts with wond...

Brilliant exhibition at One Temple Place looking at the artists and writers who settled in Sussex in the first half of the 20th century. The core of the exhibition was based on the collections of various Sussex museums and houses such as Charleston Farmhouse, Farley Farm, Ditching Museum of Art and Craft, Pallant House and many more. However it was enhanced by lovely loans from other galleries and museums. I have been to three of these annual exhibitions of items lent by regional galleries and this was the best curated one. It built a good narrative rather than just being about slightly random objects. If you follow my blog you’ll realise that this exhibition was right up my street and full of old friends. It was fascinating to see objects from Charleston in a different setting, and in fact I had been there the Saturday before and tried to work out what was missing! Thank you for the wonderful hang of Grant’s Venus and Adonis behind his Leda and the Duck chest as I realise...

Interesting exhibition at Two Temple Place looking at the body in Ancient Egypt using a wealth of objects from regional collections. In doing so it also told the story of how regional collections of Egyptian objects developed. The downstairs section looked at the body in life and included delightful display cabinets of specific items such as a case of mirrors and another of makeup tools. These items seemed very touching and personal. There were also displays on how people were represented in art with men shown with red skin and women with yellow and grids used to get the proportions of the figures correct. Around the top of the staircase were boards on each of the reginal collections which told the stories of some fascinating Victorian Egyptology. I loved the idea that Bolton, being a weaving town, concentrated on collection Egyptian linens. However the boards can be summed up by the idea than Flinders Petrie seems to have had a lot of friends! The main room upstairs ...

Slightly disjointed exhibition at Two Temple Place of works from North West museums highlighting the collections of industrial magnates. Where can you find rare books, Tiffany glass, beetles, book illustrations and even a Peruvian mummy in one place? Answer this exhibition! Lots of them were interesting but it was hard to join up the narrative of the show. It would have benefited from better biographies of the collectors as that was the reason they were all there rather than anything specifically about he objects. It was however a great opportunity to get into Two Temple Place, which seems to be mainly used as a venue, but in the early months of the year puts on an exhibition of works from little know collections. It’s a wonderful Victorian/Edwardian house with stunning stained glass and a grand staircase. It was used for Lady Rose’s wedding on Downton Abbey and I’m sure I spotted it on Coalition the other night! Reviews Independent     ...