Cathy's Art Diary

Innovative exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at work by contemporary artists from Asia, Australia and the Pacific. The show sets out to examine how art is understood in those areas and how it draws on and comments on the areas’ histories. The show draws on work from the Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary art and is themed by how artists look at their world now, how they reassess their history (cleverly called Re-Visioning History), how they use the knowledge and material of indigenous people and the role of spirituality in the region. Favourite pieces include this beautiful painting of a boat by the Taiwanese artist Idas Losin from 2016, Adeela Suleman's landscapes painted on meat cleavers, Saira Wasim's miniature paintings drawing on Mughal traditions but commenting on wealth and power and Takahiro Iwasaki's floating model of part of   a Kyoto temple complex. Closes 10 January 2027 Review Guardian

Interesting exhibition at Tate Modern looking at how contemporary art responded to the 1992 Mabo Decision which overturned the principle that the land had belonged to no-one when it was colonised but instead belonged to the indigenous people who were living there. For an art gallery the show told the story of the decision well to set up the exhibitions premise and to highlight the issues. I liked the gallery that followed which showed works by Emily Kame Kngwarreye and John Mawurndjul who were both elders of their communities. The former worked on bark using fine cross hatching called rarrk. Works which stood out for me included the attached by Gordan Bennett which hung opposite a 1937 painting whose sentiments it questions and the series by Judy Watson which covered archive documents stopping people voting with “a preponderance of aboriginal blood” with blood like stains. Closes Spring 2022 Review Guardian  

Interesting course over two afternoons at the National Gallery exploring the themes behind their current exhibition on the Australian Impressionists. In the first week we looked at the lives and output of three of the artists in the show, Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Charles Condor. We discussed why the show was laid out as it is and what the two main themes of cities and countryside showed about Australia at the time. We discussed how only became a country in this period and how art reflected and helped shape its national identity. We also discussed what the Australia artists would have known about art trends in Europe. In the second week we focused on the fourth artist in the show John Russell who moved to Europe and became friends with many of the European artist of the time. He studied with Toulouse Lautrec and Van Gogh and continued to write to Van Gogh until the latter’s death. He also met Monet and later Matisse while painting. We talked about the house he built...

Beautiful exhibition at the National Gallery of work by four Australian artists painting in the Impressionist style Tom Roberts, Charles Condor, Arthur Streeton and John Russell. The show focused at first on the three artists who worked in Australia and made a point of how they were helping to define the national identity at a time which covered the centenary of Captain Cooks discover of the continent in 1888 and the formation of the country in 1901. I loved the section on their 1889 9 x 5 exhibition which features small works painted on the reverse of cigar box lids 9 in by 5 in in size in deep wooden frames with a gold inner frame. These were loose but concentrated pictures such as a lovely one of the bend in the road in the rain. I liked the contrast between the city and rural pictures. The city ones were darker but showed a pride in what had been built and established in a short time. I liked one by Streeton of the Railway Station at Redfern with a vast expanse of...

Interesting exhibition at the British Museum looking at the indigenous people of Australia. I must admit I wasn’t sure if this was trying to be about art ethnography or history and in trying to do it all it got a bit muddled. The first section concentrated on the believes and culture of these people and how it was and is expressed in their   art and the objects they make. There was quite a lot trying to explain the concept of ‘county’ and ‘dreamings’ which I’m not sure I really grasped either. I was attracted by the way art seems to have woven into life but equally found there didn’t seem to be a progression in the art. There were many works which could have been made now or 200 years ago. The second section looked more at the history of these people since the colonialization of the country. The items around Captain Cook and the settling of the country seemed to have more work by westerners about the native people and I was interested in the proclamation boards to...

Interesting exhibition tracing 200 years of Australian art at the Royal Academy. I thought there were some lovely works in this exhibition but apart from the Aboriginal art I didn’t think I had much sense of what made Australian art different. It seemed to follow the same structure as European art with a romantic period, an Impressionist period etc and the history seemed to follow a similar pattern to American, early settlers, exploring the country, growth of the cities. It didn’t have much new to say except for ‘look it was all happening over there too’. However as I said I thought there were some lovely works. I loved the first view of Sydney by Thomas Watling and the wonderful detailed landscapes of John Glover which seemed to show every tree. I also liked Ethel Carrick’s Manly Beach, an Edwardian beach packed with ladies in round hats. Also at the end I loved the sardine tin sculptures by Fiona Hall. In the Impressionist section I was struck by the stories. Who ca...

This year’s garden at the British Museum is an Australian one. Currated in connection with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew it looks at the plants which grow in the different landscapes of Australia. It was clever how the colour of the path changed as the landscape changed. I loved the very colourful sections of yellow flowers. Review Daily Telegraph