Cathy's Art Diary

Thought provoking exhibition at the Wellcome Collection examining the impact of work on health. The show cleverly interwove historical and contemporary ideas and organised objects under three themes of work on plantations, in the street and in the home, picked as they are sites of work that is undervalued by society. I would like to have seen it broadened out to factories, service industries and offices. I spent a long time watching a video on how chemical factories have ground up on old plantations sites along the Mississippi surrounding the towns which were based around the original slave houses. There was also had a frightening section likening prison work to slavery with the astonishing statistic from 2013 that there were more black men in jail in America than would have been slaves in the past. The street section covered people who sell on the street, people who clean urban areas and prostitution. The space was dominated by an installation from Lindsey Mendick inspired by t...

Thoughtful exhibition at the Wellcome Collection examining how ideals of beauty have existed in every age and every society. The show was in three sections and the first looked at ideals and how these vary over time. It also looked at the effect of these ideals on how we think about our faces and bodies. It was good to see a lot of early material as well as contemporary. Next it looked at the industry of beauty. I was interested to see how many things we think of as beauty aids such as corsets began as medical inventions. Seeing ancient beauty accessories such as this Egyptian slab with holes for cosmetics is always very moving. I loved an installation recreating five “Renaissance gods” from a 1562 text. Finally there was three commissions from contemporary artists to question and initiate new conversations. I liked a video by David McAlmont which used Lely’s Windsor Beauties to look at current black, queer lives. Closed 28 April 2024 Reviews Guardian Telegraph Evening...

Worthy exhibition at the Wellcome Collection looking at the response of two contemporary artists to chronic illness. The show looked at how illness disrupts how we think of our bodies but I found that because it just looked at two experiences it felt more like you were looking at the artists’ therapy than considering the issue in more general terms. The photographer Jo Spence documented her breast cancer diagnosis. I did like her project “Beyond the Family Album” which looked at the things we miss out of photo albums as we usually only record the happy and successful moments in life. In hers she adds illness, divorce and tension. Oreet Ashery offered an impenetrable series of videos looking at dying in the virtual world. Each one seemed to be over 30 minutes long and in the short time I gave one of them I really didn’t understand what I was looking at. I wasn’t sure how the tent structure and teddy bear bean bags fit in except that you needed some comfort to watch them...

Interesting exhibition at the Wellcome Collection looking at how architecture can affect and benefit health. The show focused on housing and health buildings and in each case looked at the history of each type of building and at new developments in the field to design with an eye to improving physical and mental health. I would have liked to see other types of buildings covered such as offices and factories. I liked the history sections best. It was great to see the Booth maps of 19th century housing which identified the link between health and poor housing shown with pictures of the slums described in Oliver Twist and the preface of the first edition where Dickens reacted to the idea that he had made up the slum. In the health section I loved the wonderful model of an ideal 19th century hospital which was like a big dolls house. Also the watercolours by Frank Collins of an overflow smallpox hospital. The more modern section on housing used the Grenfell fire to examine...

Fascinating exhibition at the Wellcome Collection looking at the winner of a call for proposals demonstrating how architecture could respond to global health issues. The winner was by architects Roger Stirk Harbour and Partners   and engineers BuroHappold and Chapman BDSP created for the independent charity Doctors of the World and was a flexible but robust clinic which is easy to transport and adaptable to different climates.   It is constructed by slotting together pre-cut pieces which are then covered by a waterproof sheet if needed. The sides can also be insulated in colder climates. The show included the prototypes and explained how the final design developed and explained the different features which could be added if needed. Loved the idea that they could encourage phone charging facilities which are rare in some areas and attract people to the clinics. There was also a section on items designed by 14-19 year olds which could be used in the clinic such as c...

Fascinating exhibition at the Wellcome Collection looking at the history of the Bedlam asylum and the treatment of mental health. This show was a good mix of good historical displays and contemporary art installations to help illuminate some of the ideas. It looked at how in ancient times the asylum was a space, often a religious place where individuals could seek refuge. I was fascinated in the sections on the town of Geel in Flanders which became a place of pilgrimage, as it housed the shrine of St Dymphna, the patron saint of the ‘mentally distracted’ in medieval times. In modern times the town still offers a system of ‘family care’ where ‘Boarders’ live with families and are part of the town’s life. The sections on Bedlam itself were really well presented and much helped by the slide show put together by Rev Edward Geoffrey O’Donoghue, chaplain from 1892 to 1930, compiled to illustrate the regular lectures he gave as part of a programme of entertainments for staff and ...