Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting small exhibition at the Design Museum introducing the work of Simone Brewster. Brewster seems to have started as a jewellery designer and there were some amazing pieces made of hair. They reminded me of Victorian memorial pieces. She had then branched into household objects and architectural spaces. It would have been good to have photographs of the spaces and installations she had created as I found it hard to build a vision of them from a few objects. I did love these bright planters. Closes January 2027

Fun exhibition at the Design Museum looking at the films and archive of Wes Anderson. I have found some of these shows on film directors challenging when you don’t know the movies and again, I'm afraid I didn't know Anderson's work well but I came out desperate to see the films and impressed by the level of detail in them. The show was arranged chronologically by film and displayed as tableaus of costumes and props with designs shown around it as well as clips on screens. The commentary was clear and engaging. There were also lovely displays of the puppets from his stop motion animations. I loved the costumes and was intrigued by the production of printed material for the films such as playbills for plays which are mentioned and books by the protagonists. Closes 26 July 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard

Stolid exhibition at the Design Museum highlighting four research projects which are seeking to make impactful changes to bring about environmental change. Each display highlighted one of the projects and showed it with a piece of contemporary art commissioned to summarise the findings. They ranged from a project for NHS Scotland looking at sustainable care, two from Rathlin Island off Northern Ireland, projects in Bristol and Swansea aiming to bring back century old housing back into use and an initiative to create a community map of Anglesey to aim planning authorities. These were interesting ideas and I loved the inclusion of the contemporary art, but they were big concepts to represent in a small space and I'm not sure I always understood what the aim was. I did love these medical test kits made of plastic alternatives. Closes August 2026

Fascinating exhibition at the Design Museum looking at the Blitz nightclub and its influence on design and culture.   The show was very well explained and started by looking at the culture which it grew out of and how the 1970s were a decade of reinvention. There was a fun section on how people dressed to go to the club followed by a recreation of the club itself. The show then widened out to look at designers who emerged from the scene from fashion designers, through architects and furnishing designers. Being about the same age as the designers, although I'm sure I'd never have been allowed in the club, I realised how things I bought and did were influenced by this group of people. The last room looked at the music which came out of the club with a lovely wall of album and singles covers and a show of a selection of the videos for songs. Closed 29 Mar 2026 Reviews Times Telegraph

Dull exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at design for and by disabled, deaf and neurodivergent people and communities. I admit this show may have suffered from the fact I went to it after the Marie Antoinette exhibition however I found it drab and impenetrable in places. They also took a broad definition of design not only objects and fashion but also design for protest and items to make a point which I felt were nearer to being contemporary art than design. I also have lots of gripes with the labels. Firstly that the labels which carefully numbered obects in a rather complex system with the room and object number. That in itself was fine but they then didn't number the actual objects so it you were scanning the works on display to work out which was the one you were reading about. Secondly the language was trying to be so inclusive that it became convoluted and complex. From the introductory board which read "For those who are non-disabled or are less...

Charming exhibition at Glyndebourne Opera House exploring Oliver Messel’s designs for the company in the 1950s and 1960s. The show had a selection of design drawings and posters as well as costumes and props. Messel is a designer who keeps cropping up in strange places for me so it was a welcome addition to add this one. As well as designing for the stage it was In Messel’s house in London in 1951, that the Glyndebourne Festival Society was launched and he was also instrumental in the creation of the Glyndebourne Festival Programme Book, designing the cover for its inaugural edition in 1952. Closed 24 August 2025

Innovative exhibition at the Design Museum looking at all aspects of design for swimming. This show combined many types of design from performance wear, through fashion and architecture and social change. It was cleverly divided into sections based on where people swim, pool, lido and in nature. It covered both sporting and leisure aspects of swimming. I liked that it covered such a lot of ground and was designed with sustainability front and centre. However, at times it was hard to match the objects to their labels and in one case I tracked it down to he opposite side of the display case. My favourite objects were the swimming costumes, and the show explained changes in technology and design well. It was of course fun to see celebrity items like Pamela Anderson’s Baywatch swimsuit and Tom Daley’s Speedos alongside a jumper he’d knitted. Favourite fact? That the bikini is named after   Bikini Atoll, site of American nuclear test explosions! Closed 17 August 2025 Review...

Delightful exhibition at the Design Museum highlighting the work of Bethan Laura Wood. This exhibition is first in an annual series showcasing contemporary design practice. I loved Wood's maximalist approach and the range of projects which were featured. It also highlighted her own collections and how her work draws on these. I loved her cups and saucers treated to stain as they are used inspired by her own stained tea mug. Each one’s pattern will develop in a slightly different way. It was also good to see work she had done during her year at the museum as a designer in residence. My favourite piece was this cabinet which started with a project to design handles for furniture which she describes as "the jewellery of furniture". Closes 25 January 2025

Novel and beautiful exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery looking at flowers in art and design. The show was divided into nine clear sections covering broad themes and categories for which flowers have been used such as fashion, science and new artists. I loved the fact it started with a room on the history including a lovely Dutch still life and large reproduction of Botticelli’s “Primavera”. This really grounded the show and you could trace clear links back to these works in the contemporary art.   One section just consisted of a fabulous installation of dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law which provided a quiet, grounding moment in a vibrant show. I liked the variety of art shown and particularly the inclusion of old and new designers from Sanderson fabrics to Vivienne Westwood. There was also a good balance of fine art and photography. Stand out pieces included this bouquet made of spoons by Ann Carrington and a pair of Converse trainers by Cristina Alcantara. There was ...

Disappointing exhibition at the Design Museum looking at 60 years of Habitat. I would have loved a lot more of this but it had a feel of being an advertising installation and was style over substance. This anniversary deserved more detail. I did like a fun display of iconic items like a chicken brick shown with modern versions designed to mark the event. There was also a sweet swing outside based on a classic chair design. Closed 11 August 2024

Dry and over intellectualised exhibition at the Design Museum on the designer Enzo Mari. I thought the show failed to give an overview of Mari’s career and ideas but instead delved straight into the detail of his process with dense labels. The show made a point that it had been curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli but I couldn’t find any information on either of them and why this was significant. There were some beautiful objects many of which I recognised as taste influencers in the 1970s and 80s but I wasn’t sure how they fitted together and some sections like a display of scythe had me very confused. Close 8 September 2024 Reviews Guardian Telegraph

Fun exhibition at the Design Museum looking at the phenomena which is Barbie. The show is everything you would want looking at the doll as a fashion icon, leader of sociological change and an innovator of manufacturing techniques. Women of different ages were going starry eyed at different eras and I was definitely in the late 1970s pack. There was a brilliant section looking in detail at the different models of doll and how the design adapted over the years which showed dolls in bright boxes. There was also a section on the Dreamhouse and other accessories. I would have liked more on the clothes you could buy as that was my favourite aspect of the doll. I was fascinated by how it was designed to promote imaginative play and that’s certainly how I used mine. Closes 23 February 2025 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard    

Intriguing exhibition at the Design Museum on the work of Attua Aparicio who has been chosen as this year’s Ralph Saltzman prize winner. The prize goes to someone whose work points to a new direction in design and Aparicio was chosen for her creative approach to waste materials. Aparicio mainly works in ceramics but had started including borosilicate glass, which is used in industry and is not recyclable, in her work. In some cases this is applied to found ceramics or failed pieces from ceramic factories. I am a sucker for both ceramics and glass so I loved this work aesthetically as well as finding her ideas fascinating. Closes 15 April 2024  

Interesting exhibition at the Design Museum on the development of skateboarding. OK I admit this was a stretch for me but, I was there and as you know I’ll go to see anything. That said you can always learn something. The show looked at the technical developments in skateboards since the 1950s with an emphasis on how design was driven by skaters themselves. It also looked at the social changes in the sport culminating with its inclusion in the Olympics. I’ll be honest the technical side made me gloss over but it did show me that skateboards had changed more than this non-user had imagined. Have pictures of the earliest pieces in the show, basically a plank of wood with roller skate wheels, to one of the most recent marking the listing of the skating area on the South Bank which I walked past later in the day. Closes 19 May   2024    

Fascinating small exhibition at Somerset House looking at cutting edge design solutions and how they come about. Makerversity is a community of over 300 creatives based at Somerset House and this show highlights work by current and previous members. The central room included a workshop hosting four projects in rotation showing their working practice. There were some brilliant projects and I was drawn to a process inspired by a Candy Floss machine to turn waste plastic into usable fibres. It seemed a simple solution for a small manufacturer. I was also intrigued by a headband which delivered low electrical impulses to eradicate period pains and other symptoms. If the girls being interviewed on the video were anything to go by I wish this had been available to me. I wasn’t so convinced by the idea of a crop to grow fully formed hats but I’m prepared to be proved wrong. Closes 4 February 2024  

Interesting exhibition at the Design Museum by their current designers in residence. I wasn’t sure how all the work fitted the theme they had been asked to respond to of Islands but there were some interesting ideas. I liked Marianna Janowicz’s investigation into how we dry clothes now. As people no longer use laundries clothes are washed and dried at home often leading to condensation and damp issues. It was interesting to think about how we think we’ve improved things but may in fact have created other problems. My favourite idea was the creation of pigeon lofts to hang along railway lines in London by James Perlow Powell. The pigeon poo or guano would be collected for fertiliser. Closes 24 September 2023  

Calming yet thought-provoking exhibition at the Design Museum of Design by Ai Weiwei which focuses on his work looking at design and what it reveals about our changing values. The whole gallery space was opened up and was dominated by five ‘fields’ of repetitive objects laid out on the floor from Stone Age tools at one end to Lego at the other. I love this sort of approach and found them very beautiful particularly the field of teapot spouts but as you read more you found out they were deeper than at first view. For example the Lego had been sent to him by members of the public when the company stopped supplying him after he used it for portraits of political prisoners. Around the walls were then pieces either made from ordinary objects or imitating them. One wall had two snakes, one made of children’s rucksacks to reference the children killed in the Sichuan earthquake and the other of life vests too represent the European migrant crisis. There were also pieces like three coat ha...

Eclectic exhibition at Somerset House for this bienniale design show. The theme of the show was international collaboration and all the projects, presented by countries, organisations and universities, highlighted global issues or work with other organisations around the world.   Other themes which seemed to grow out of the exhibits were response to crisis, aging and weaving as a metaphor. I very quickly became annoyed by the convoluted commentaries on some of the exhibits, many of which were verging on incomprehensible. An example would be "living collective of initiatives". I understand that some may have originally by people for whom English isn’t the first language but could someone please read them for sense plus cut out the academic, philosophical twaddle. Just tell me the problem you are addressing and its solution in simple language. That said there were some fascinating displays. I loved these sheep stools from the Japanese room on rural life. Also a chair des...

Small display at the Design Museum celebrating this year’s winner of this design award, Marco Capardo. The prize is awarded to an emerging product designer whose work points to a new direction for design and Capardo's work was chosen because of his diverse and creative approaches to materials and making   imaginative use of waste materials. The display highlighted a selection of Capardo’s projects. I loved his reversible temporary furniture is made from powdered sugar and expanded clay. The objects can be completely dissolved with water into their original components when the pieces are no longer needed. My favourite was this chair using linear pieces of wood which fit together in a modular system. Closes 3 April 2023  

Interesting exhibition at the Design Museum organised by the Royal College of Art Design Age Institute looking at initiatives which might help us live, work and socialise into our 70s, 80s and 90s. The show presents 10 projects with a small display on each. There was a mix of the inspiring which I’d like now and the weird. A couple were poorly explained and I’m not sure what the inclusively designed bank was offering that was any different. Of the inspiring I liked this work Station designed to be put in retirement homes which would actually be good in any flat. I loved the smart inner soles which connected to an app and analysed your gait to help with balance. Can I have them now? The best thing in the show was a link to sign a petition being run by the Institute calling on government to introduce a minimum design standard for packaging as in a survey people identified consumer packaging as the most frustrating household item in need of redesign. I don’t think that’s older age ...