Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting selling exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by eight artists born or based within eight miles of the RA. The show was curated by HOME by Ronan McKenzie which creates more space for BIPOC artists based in the UK. I admit BIPOC is a new term to me and it stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour. You learn something new every day. The standout piece for me was this lovely portrait by Tonique Sewell which was the most conventional work. I also liked an abstract with surveillance cameras by Tasneem Elnayal. Another new idea for me was the crocheted painting by Emily Moore, maybe I should have redirected my Nan to this rather than the endless blankets. Closed 25 June 2023

Thoughtful exhibition at the Museum of the Home of photographs of disabled people at the door of their homes. Curated by Digital Disability the show presented the photograph with words by the sitter on what their home means to them. Some commented on having been in institutions as children, often referred to as ‘homes’ giving home a dual meaning to them. Under each picture there was then a biography of the sitter and, in some cases, toys representing disabled people.   Closed 25 June 2023

Interesting archival project from the Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye  Museum, to record and document how our home lives are changing during the coronavirus pandemic. As part of their Documenting Homes archive. I’ve taken part and it’s easy to do. There are seven open questions around how you feel about your home at the moment while you are spending so much time in it, then you can also upload up to five photographs which you feel sum up your experience. It just took me a few minutes to do and made me reflect on the here and now and what had changed. You can also read other people’s stories which does give a sense of all being in this together if apart. In one talk I listened to last week online someone said we need to remember that everyone’s experience of lockdown will be different and once we emerge not to assume we have all been doing the same thing, Reading these stories really brings this home. Personally, as I’m furloughed, I’m treating it like a sabbat...

Confused exhibition at the Design Museum looking at the social and technological changes in the home in the 20th century and looks at what home might mean in the future. I say confused because there was a lot of information to bring together to look at the past and the future and in places this made the narrative unclear. It might have worked better as two exhibitions examining the past and future in turn. The themes were also slightly unclear in places. I did like the way it broadened the idea of what home is now and in the future to include mobile devices, an element of home that is always with us. It also looked the opposite and how the world is now beamed into our homes and how data about them can be harvested making them less of a private space than before. The show had lots of quirky objects and films. I was fascinated by a film by Gary Cheng showing his 32m sq apartment that with moving walls can have 24 different rooms in it and loved a single unit which contai...