Cathy's Art Diary

Eclectic exhibition at various venues around the city of Liverpool of contemporary art taking inspiration from the bedrock of the city. OK I admit I am slightly cheating on this one! I was in the city for a Springsteen concert and left on the day before the show opened however I saw a couple of previews and some of the works which had already gone up in the streets so I am allowing myself to blog it! My first find was a sculpture by Anna Gonzalez-Noguchi outside the Open Eye Gallery referencing exotic plants which were imported into the city. I loved their tactile element with pieces which turned and dangled. At the Walker Art Gallery I loved Isabel Nolan's wall carpets in bright colours but my favourite pieces were Cevdet Erek's models of football stadium shown like picture frames. As I'd been at Anfield the night before and am fascinated by frames this pushed my buttons. I also liked Leasho Johnson's dense colourful paintings. Thanks to a chat to a gallery as...

Touching exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool marking the closing of Goodison Park, the Everton football stadium. The club are moving to a new ground on the banks of the Mersey at the start of the new season and the museum marked this with a display of photographs of match day rituals and activities in the surrounding streets. I loved this one of a man eating his regular chips on a wall. I hope he finds a new wall soon. Closes 21 September 2025    

Eclectic exhibition at the Bluecoat in Liverpool using work which has been displayed at the Bluecoat to reflect on the history of the building in its 300th year. There was an interesting section on damage to the building starting with a print of the building under construction and including a picture of the damage to it in the Blitz and photographs of a fire in 2008. Also a section on the Sandon Studios Society which were based in the building in the early 20th century which included a pastiche of “When Did You Last See Your Father?” by Donald Lynch showing the Sandon Committee viewing contemporary art with two paintings shown in the picture shown alongside it. I loved some still lives by Edward Carter Preston, one of the Sandon artists, who also designed the Dead Man’s Penny, a plaque given to the families of soldiers who died in the First World War. The show also included Epstein’s “Genesis”, a controversial statue shown at the Bluecoat in 1931 when nearly 50,000 pa...

Fascinating exhibition at the ICA on the work of the Merseybeat poet Adrian Henri who had also trained as a painter and who ran ‘happenings’ in Liverpool. I have always loved Henri’s poems and have a beloved copy of the Penguin anthology “The Mersey Sound” so I was really pleased that they included a recording of him reading his work. It was lovely to hear “Without you” read by the author. It never fails to make me smile. The happens sound wonderful and there were lots of posters and flyers for them as well as some of his art works, often Leger like collages using adverts and text. I liked a campaign he ran to memorialise bits of Liverpool which were being destroyed in the 1960s and 1970s and his campaign slogan of “Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust, If the bombs don’t get you, the planner must”! Most interesting was a signed copy of Howl by Ginsberg signed for Henri after Ginsberg had stayed with his on a visit to Liverpool. Also a picture called “Entry of Christ into Live...

Interesting exhibition at Liverpool Central Library of book bindings contemporary designers. I must admit the best thing about the show was the chance to look round the newly built/refurbished Liverpool Library which I remembered from 3 weeks work experience there in 1985! The display cases were in the older areas of the Hornby Library and Picton Reading Room. Note to self, don’t up zip your handbag it he middle of the Picton Library it’s got an amazing echo! The bindings were fascinating. I loved Stuart Brockman’s watercolour of Oxford by the book of the same name by John Curtis.   Also Angela Jones’s “ABC tour of Wales” bound in pastel stripes of leather. I just wish I could commission some fancy bindings for where I work now!

Small but interesting display at the Museum of Liverpool on the story of HIV on Merseyside. I lived in Liverpool 30 years ago this autumn and felt that was the year I starting reading about HIV and AIDS in the newspapers as a disease in America. I was therefore stunned to see that someone had already died of the condition in Liverpool the year before.   The display was interesting in that it showed not only early reaction to the illness but also how people were now being supported on Merseyside by Sahir House who had helped to mount this show.

Good exhibition on the life and work of Le Corbusier at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool. Just realised I missed this exhibition off my Liverpool Odyssey! Not sure why as it was very good! It was held in the crypt which was also a good opportunity to see this work by Lutchens. I found the architecture was much nicer from the inside than the outside and often addressed very practical issues. I loved the kitchen for a block of flats complete with a small hatch that the milk man could leave the daily delivery in. I was also struck by the paintings by Le Corbusier. I’d not thought of him as a painter and they were very fine. Reviews Times Daily Telegraph

Liverpool’s International Biennial exhibition which commissions ambitious and challenging new work by leading international artists. I must admit I did not do this justice as there were many works all over the city and we only had a weekend. However we did get to see Ai WeiWei’s giant diamante spider at the Town Hall and Richard Wilson’s “Turning the Place Over” which was a large circle cut our of derelict building which turned round slowly to complete the building then break it again. Oh and it turns out that the John Moore’s 25 exhibition which I have already reviewed as part of it! However given how much was going on this seems a rather pathetic effort! Review Daily Telegraph

Excellent exhibition at the World Museum Liverpool which looks at the story of music on Merseyside since the end of the Second World War. Although there is obviously some emphasis on the Beatles, it is a very wide ranging exhibition and brought back memories of living there 23 years ago! As well as a good chronology of the Merseyside music scene there was also a section on how music is made and marketed which included a small mock up of a recording school, a mixing desk and a video mock up complete with glitter ball and blow up instruments. There was almost too much to take in and of four of us who went round together we each seem to have remembered different aspects. Review Liverpool Echo

Exhibition for this contemporary art prize held about every two years at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. I must admit I didn’t have long to do it and skimmed but some images still leapt out at the me. I think my favourite was “Special Relativity” by Julian Brian which showed a rearranged front room with the pair of ceramic dogs taking the place of the chairs on either side of the fireplace. Alongside was a related display of past winners including David Hockney and Peter Blake. Review Liverpool Echo

Excellent exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool showing this series of detailed city panorama’s by Ben Johnson. In particular it focused on a new panorama of Liverpool from the waterfront commission for the European Year of Culture. It shows both existing and planned buildings in exquisite detail and it was lovely to see local people enjoying it and pointing out where they lived and worked to friends. I had a great conversation with the lady next to me talking about what the new buildings were as it is 23 years since I lived in the city. A super video showed you how the picture was created and a computer simulation took you through how it grew and let you focus in on particular features. In the next room there was a sequence of older panoramas of the city to compare to the new vision. It had a real sense of being a work of art created for a city. Reviews Independent Liverpool Echo