Cathy's Art Diary

Muddled installation at Tate Britain in the large Duveen galleries by Zineb Sedira. I say muddled as there are a lot of large installations but I didn't feel they hung together. The theme was African cinema using it to explore memory, migration and trauma. Not knowing anything about the subject I would have appreciated a bit more explanation of each section of the work. I liked each piece and they worked well in the space including a recreated cinema and café, large cinema style sign boards and a camper van. I must go back again and give the piece a bit more time and concentration. Closes 17 January 2026 Reviews Guardian Telegraph

Interesting installation at Tate Britain by Mohammed Z Rahman. It marks the Tate owning two works by Rahman and it showcased them in a structure resembling Bengali timber wedding canopies grouping them with other works by the artist. He has envisaged the display as a theatrical production in two acts with the first being about the home and the second act which looks at love in all its forms. In each case the Tate painting introduces the space and leads you in. Closes 6 November 2026

Wonderful exhibition at Tate Britain on the life and work of James McNeill Whistler. The show was beautifully designed starting from the first room which was an invocation of his studio with pieces of furniture and ceramics he had owned alongside his drawing board and brushes. After that it ran chronologically from his talented early work though to his later experiments in painting in black. There were lots of old friends alongside work I'd never seen before and a good mix of painting and prints. As I'd travelled to the galley via Thames Clippers, I was of course drawn to the paintings and prints of the Thames which ranged from the wonderful "Wapping" painting of people in a   pub with the river behind, through the calming Nocturns and various print series. Closes 27 September 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph

Innovative exhibition at Charleston Farmhouse looking at hidden histories of madness through 12 people connected to Charleston. Developed by the Mad Heritage Collective it consisted of a round table to resemble the one in the dining room of the house, with shards of plates which you place on four place settings to make whole dishes, and that activates sound sculptures and readings via headphones. Each shard has an image of one of the 12 people associated with the house and their design mirrors the Famous Women Dinner Service on show in the next room. Around the walls are poems made up of text from cut up books responding to the stories. I later found a booklet in the café giving more information on each of the people. I'm not sure if I missed that in the space or if it had been closed down for the night as I was there for an event after hours and I’d snuck onto the welcome space before you go into the house to see this installation. I'll need to go again. Closes 6 Septem...

Disappointing exhibition at Charleston in Lewes focusing on the 20th century artist Gladys Hynes. I was looking forward to this as Hynes had come up recently in a lecture and I was interested to see her work and learn more about her. The disappointment came because there was more work by other people in the show than by her. This did set her well within her circle and the art of the time, but it took the focus off her. I suspect part of the problem was that she was so of her time that some elements were problematic now such as her friendship with known Fascists in the 1930s and in some cases I felt art by others was used to put forward alternate views. Obviously, it was right to acknowledge these issues but it made the show a bit heavy handed in places. I loved her pale colours and elongated figures and the inclusion of a beautiful portrait sculpture by her and well as designs for book covers. Closes 11 October 2026

Enlightening exhibition at Charleston in Lewes looking at the life and work of Walter Sickert with an emphasis on his works on paper. The show followed his work chronologically looking at the role of drawings and print making at the various stages of his career. It also looked at how he repeated images and examined the everyday. There were some paintings, many from Charleston's own collection, but most interesting were the drawings and prints particularly a couple of examples where they were shown together to give an idea of how an image developed between forms. Closes 11 October 2026

Interesting online lecture from the Wallace Collection looking at the artist William Nicholson and his influence on the art of Winston Churchill. Simon Martin,   director of Pallant House Gallery, which recently had an exhibition on Nicholson, led us through his life and art. I had seen the show and loved I so it was interesting to be reminded of it. Talked us through his early print work, his portraits and landscapes and his wonderful still-lives. Given the lecture was put on to mark the Wallace Collection’s Churchill show I would have liked to know a bit more about the connection. They met in 1933 when Nicholson was commissioned to paint a portrait of Churchill and his wife and in subsequent years Nicholson is known to have visited Chartwell, Churchill’s home on at least 10 occasions and they were known to paint side by side. Churchill referred to Nicholson as his Cher Maître or Dear Master.