Cathy's Art Diary

Eclectic exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by graduating students. I try to go each year and this year was as incomprehensible as ever, although I think there was more painting than some years. The schools proper are being refurbished so the show was in what was the Pace Gallery on the Burlington Gardens side and the 2nd floor gallery in the original bit. All the work would benefit from a bit of explanation but without understanding I was drawn to Thirza Smith’s fountain made of an old RSPCA collection box, a room installation by Daria Blum and some delicate abstract paintings on silk and satin by Max Boyla. I think my favourite individual piece was this sculpture of found items also by Smith. Closed 25 June 2023

Fun installation in Covent Garden of student responses to the musical Frozen which has recently opened in London. 2nd year students from Central Sain Martins were invited to create high-fashion, abstract interpretations of Christopher Oran’s scenery and costume designs for the show. The outfits focused on certain aspects of the story and design including the idea of the human side of animals such as the reindeer Sven. Another set looked at how different seats in the theatre can give different perceptions of the set and costumes. It was a shame the labels were so small that they were too small to read. I ended up photographing them so I could blow them up a bit. I particularly liked the outfits that responded to the effect of ice in the show from one which looked like a bouffant wedding dress to an angular grey catsuit.

Eclectic exhibition at the Royal College of Art full of ideas and inventions.   This was the graduate show for the MA courses in design and included products, textiles and design engineering. It was really well laid out with a display by each student along with a postcard with their details on, a real showcase of ideas and talents. There were some solutions for things which shouldn’t really be a problem. Quite a few people looked at issues around excessive phone use with an invention to power gadgets using a phone to complete a circuit to stop you using it plus a place to put your phone when you come home. Maybe putting it down or switching off is the more obvious idea? Some problems were quite sad and around lack of space in homes so someone had invented corridor furniture as that was the one shared space in shared houses. I did like a kitchen in a box by Yu Li, pictured here, which provided a hot plate, pans, cutlery, sink drainer etc in a box.   I loved a sh...

Mixed exhibition at the Royal Academy showcasing the work of the students there. I love getting into the schools spaces below the Royal Academy and it’s interesting to see the new ideas coming out but this was quite a mixed bag. It’s nice to get a list of the student’s names and the works but I think some of them would benefit from a bit of explanation. I’m all for art that just speaks to you and doesn’t need explaining but this did and without it could be mistaken for a pile of rubbish. There were two performance artists dancing but they’d attracted a crowd so we couldn’t see in the room. There was a room where a work called “Song for Unattended Items” just looked like abandoned possession which I guess is what it was and don’t get me started on bad painting.   I did like Issy Wood and Gina Fischli’s work shown together in a large room. It included a table of strange objects such as a clear, cowboy hat light, what’s not to like? There was also a lovely painting of s...

Annual exhibition at the Royal Academy featuring the work of artists in their second year at the schools there. I did find this a bit of a mixed bag and I must admit rereading my notes now not a lot of images have stuck in my mind. I have written next to works by Rhys Coren “rather jolly and decorative” but I have no memory of them now. In my defence I have done a lot since! As you can see from the photo I did rather like a piece by Kira Freiji called “Closer than Morning” as it was quite fun and used the space in an interesting way. I also have to mention that one of Freije’s works was made of powdered coated steel and aluminium, cotton and baby oil! That’s a first for me! I liked Anna Hughes sculptures particularly one like a cross section of a melon but I found it hard to marry up the titles of items in the leaflet to the works. Robin Seir’s bright, decorative works reminded me of Gary Hume’s works based on hospital doors. I think my favourite piece was Wanda W...

Interesting exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by the RA Schools postgraduate fine art students half way through their studies. It was a bit of a mixed bag of work and I suspect as I go to see so much, that a lot of it looked derivative of other things, although often those things were works I’d seen very recently so maybe it’s more about the current zeitgeist! I won’t go on about bad contemporary painting but there were some examples! However I did like Sean Steadman’s big surrealist work as it was well done particularly the giant damaged finger nail. In the same room I liked Sophie Alsbo’s work “Comeback”, four screens showing film of a waterfall, with real sections, pixilated and out of focus ones., which was rather relaxing. My favourite pieces were Laurence Owen’s ceramics with interesting titles such as “Daddy’s Girl” and “Limp Bisque”! I was also fascinated by Max Prus’s flat free standing figures which were eerily 3D and really seemed to inhabit the space...