Cathy's Art Diary

Strange space/installation at the Whitechapel Gallery exploring what public space should feel like.   This was an immersive environment created by Duchamp & Sons, Whitechapel Gallery’s youth collective, and London-based artist Gaby Sahhar, to be used to think about and discuss public space. It was full of comfortable sofas and everyday objects and people had been encouraged to write ideas in a pin board and on the walls. I’m not sure that it had morphed into a public space I wanted to inhabit for long. It looked more like my lounge on a bad day, except for the scribbling on the walls, or a trendy bar. Closed 7 May 2023  

Fun installation in the Burlington Arcade to mark the launch of the latest Bond film, “No Time to Die”. I’d spotted it a couple of nights’ earlier when it was obviously it’s launch and there was a party so you couldn’t get in so I went back when I was next passing. It consistent of cogs and time pieces hanging from the ceiling and a silver classic gun barrel photo op in the centre in homage to the classic opening of the credits of all the films. All very classy. Some of the shops who had products in the film also had pictures in the windows or displays inside. I particularly like the portraits of two M’s, Robert Brown and Judi Dench, in one of them.    

Quirky installation outside the Hayward Gallery of an inflated silver samovar. Art collective, Slavs and Tatars, presents this piece reflecting the multicultural and colonial histories of tea. It questions the role of tea in British history, tradition and popular culture. It’s an interesting statement but more excitingly it’s a giant inflated samovar in the public space, what’s not to love? It looks great against the concrete building and was a real discovery on a dull day. Closes 14 November 2021  

Innovative public art display in Piccadilly devised by the Royal Academy bringing together banners and decorated road crossings. The road crossings were in bright abstract designs by Vanessa Jackson RA called UpTownDancing. What a clever was of brightening up the urban space. The banners were by Michael Armitage, Farshid Moussavi RA and Yinka Shonibare RA and had the effect of there being Christmas decorations in the summer. There was also a film but I must admit I never spotted that. What a fun way of bringing art and colour into public spaces.   Closes 6 September 2021

Fun exhibition in the windows of empty shop windows in Covent Garden of accessories and props from the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. There was a window of point shoes where each was designed to represent different departments within the opera house and a fun installation of tutus slotted one inside another. Around the corner I found a window of set designs, props and costumes for the ballet The Tsarina’s Slippers. What a great use of these empty spaces to promote their neighbour and to keep this area looking vibrant and fun in difficult times. Officially closed on 10 August 2021 but I viewed it on 16th.

Free outdoor exhibition in Trafalgar Square of reproductions of the pictures which were most viewed online from the National Gallery’s collections in lockdown. The pictures are shown as life sized replicas with good notes about them however sadly people seemed to be using the installation as extra seating rather than looking at the pictures. It’s a shame as it’s a good way of trying to entice people into the gallery however I fear the need to book might put off anyone who spontaneously decided to try. Alongside the exhibition the gallery was running art sessions nearby with a crowd of easels set up and all occupied by people   working on a variety of pictures. Some drew the view across the square but others worked from their imaginations and I spotted a skull. It was nice to see children and adults working together. Sketch on the Square ended 31 August 2021 Paintings display ends 2 September 2021

Interesting exhibition National Gallery presenting the new shortlist of sculptures for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. I always try to get to this show and am slightly obsessed by the Fourth Plinth commissions. This time I found all the entries a bit woke and you seemed to have to know a lot about what they meant to appreciate them. It is of course good if there is depth to the work, but I think first and foremost it needs to work in the space and either make an obvious statement or be beautiful, or preferably both. This time I voted for Teresa Margolles “850 Imprints”, shown here, imprints of faces evidently mounted like a Central American skull rack or Tzompantli around the top of the plinth The plan is that the faces will be those of transgender people and will be infused with their hair and skin cells which I must admit is slightly creepy. It is planned that it will weather during the year it would be on the plinth and I like the idea that there is built in change. My...

Striking image   outside the Hayward Gallery by Zohra Opuku. This the latest in the gallery’s Billboard series where they display a large image in the public realm for a long period, often mirroring the topic of one of their exhibitions. This is a self portrait of the artist inspired by West African masquerades and the natural world. She often uses indigenous plants in her work to represent identity and belonging however in this case Rhododendron her head is a non-native plant, representing finding yourself in an environment/country which is not your own. I love the contrast of her white blouse which stands out against the dark and how she wears a necklace of shells reflecting her home. I also like the way the leaves look so beautiful yet conceal her face.

Immersion light installation in the Bloomberg Arcade showing shape-shifting projections along the length of the pavement of the arcade. I found this by accident with friends while walking to Cannon Street Station after a Christmas do. Taking a cut through we found this colourful, changing display which not only brightened the area but made you look at the new buildings around it. It was commissioned by Bloomberg Philanthropies, produced by Artichoke and created by artist collective, NOVAK in collaboration with Ed Carter and Hazel Dunn. Evidently it shows the human impact on climate change but I must admit when rushing to catch a train the meaning passed me but the colour and effect has stuck with me. Closes 10 January 2020

Sweet sculpture trail around the London Bridge area featuring figures based on Raymond Brigg’s Snowman and decorated by contemporary artists. There were twelve figures in the trail based on the Twelve Days of Christmas and it was presented by Wild in Art, a producer of public events, in collaboration with Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House UK). I only had time to find three of them as I was rushing for a train but my favourite of the ones I saw was this one by Jenny Leonard representing Four Calling Birds, a joke I didn’t get at the time! Closes 5 January 2020

Lovely public exhibition outside the National Theatre of photographs by Hannah Smiles of objects found by the Thames. The information boards pointed out the Thames is the longest continuous archaeological site in Britain, a cumulative rubbish dump from thousands of years. The pictures were beautifully clear images showing the finds in isolation and giving them a sense of grandeur. I loved one of a pilgrim badge of St Thomas a Beckett   and well as one of Art Deco glass buttons but my favourite, shown here, was of the bowl of an anti-slavery clay pipe. Closes 5 October 2019

Evocative public exhibition outside the National Theatre as part of the Totally Thames festival looking at the smells of Barking. Organised by Valence House Museum it looked at 150 years of the smells of Barking. Although it was just a series of information boards they set the story out really well with just enough information. It went through the industries of the area and what they might have smelt like. Barking was particularly smelly as it was downwind of central London and a lot of London waste ended up there. I’d not realised what a big fishing fleet Barking had and I learned about industries I’d never come across before such as the annual ice harvest after landowners in the area flooded their land then harvested the ice that formed. Also the import of bird poo from Peru for fertilizer as well as manure from the city being shipped to Barking to be used in the market gardens nearby. Closes 5 October 2019

Striking installation at the Oxo Tower as part of the Totally Thames Festival by school children from Nigeria. Organised by the Five Cowries Arts Education Initiative based in Lagos, bringing together children, young people and teachers from across Nigeria with partners around the world to educate and raise awareness of water pollution crisis. It consisted of brightly painted jerry cans painted by the children hanging along the loggia at the bottom of the tower. They looked bright and colourful and made you stop to read what they about. Unfortunately I missed the sister exhibition outside City Hall of photograph exhibition of the project. Closes 30 September 2019

Beautiful installation on the river Thames at Bankside created by created by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov and local school children. The ship is made of bamboo, wood and silk with 178 canvas sails made by children in workshops and based on their discussions of diversity. It looks striking and colourful sitting in the river with great views of St Pauls behind it looking one way at Tate Modern the other way. The ship has had other iterations around the world since it first appeared in Egypt in 2008 including the 2010 Venice Biennial.  When I was there one of the primary schools who were involved turned up to look at it and were excitedly pointing out their canvases on the information boards although I admit they were easily diverted by the bubble man nearby. I did hear one girl say to her teacher “This is the best school trip ever”. Hopefully taking part is something they will remember for a long time to come. opefully taking part if something they Clos...

Disappointing new public space at the O2 at North Greenwich. As a regular Thames Clipper user I’ve been diverted round these building works when walking to the O2 for at least two years so I was excited that the quicker path was going to reopen and be a park area with a high level walkway with river views. It is great to have the path back but when the Tide opened there still seemed to be a lot of building work going on and temporary barriers and sadly even Morag Myerscough’s bright murals “Siblings” couldn’t disguise the tube vent shafts. The whole area need tidying up a bit. The high level walk way is quite fun but I’m not sure it gives much better views than from the riverbank and it was obvious from a sign that they’d already had some health and safety issue with raised sections and I spotted another accident waiting to happen with a run of shallow steps which looked like a slope as you set off from the top. I fear the effect will soon be ruined by yellow tape. On t...