My last cultural day out before the shut-down was visiting galleries with Tabish Khan of The Londonist and already feels like an age ago. I don’t normally mention my exhibition companions but it’s only fair to include him as he’s in the photo above and did suggest the venues that day. The Library of Exile […]
One-minute blog of interesting things
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As a working contemporary artist I visit many exhibitions and shows, but sometimes it is the things I see that are part of daily life that capture my interest. My one-minute blog of interesting things reflects the fact that although we are increasingly time-poor, there is creativity all around us.
Kimono:Kyoto to Catwalk at the V&A
This exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum covers the history of the Kimono right up to the present day, from a contemporary bridal outfit above, to the individual component panels, below. A small projection showed how the kimono is constructed: made up from 8 panels the form is deceptively simple yet as a canvas […]
Me, Myself & I at Collyer Bristow Gallery
Although the gallery is a well-established space it was my first visit; a friend of mine was exhibiting in this group show curated by Rosalind Davis around the theme of self. As ever, I’ve only included a few pictures of the work here. Charmaine Watkiss‘s almost life-sized drawings were the first pieces I saw as […]
Hedda Sterne at Victoria Miro gallery
It’s always enriching to learn more about artists and the work of Hedda Sterne was no exception. This exhibition at Victoria Miro, the first solo show of her work in the UK, focused on a series of paintings and drawings from the early 1960s when she spent over a year in Venice on a Fulbright […]
Léon Spilliaert at the Royal Academy
This exhibition at the Royal Academy led me to discover the work of Belgian Symbolist Léon Spilliaert who I confess I’d never heard of before. His brooding, melancholic paintings exude isolation, even anguish, but all in a rather beautiful way with masterful use of ink, gouache, charcoal and pastel. These works ooze a sense of […]
Tom Down exhibited by Mint Art Gallery
Mint Art Gallery showed work by Tom Down at the recent London Art Fair. Using as his starting point the grand romantic landscape paintings of 19th Century artists such as Casper David Friedrich & Auguste Capelen amongst others, he explores the contrast of our current environmental situation making gorgeous models from humble, often discarded materials […]
Encounter at the London Art Fair
I’m a sucker for monochrome which was one of the reasons Encounter, a London-based contemporary art gallery, caught my eye as soon as I walked into the fair with the freshness of the work and totally distracted me from my planned schedule. I don’t want to say anything more – just look and hopefully you’ll […]
Picasso and Paper at the Royal Academy
This is a mammoth show with lots of very serious and historically important work which I highly recommend visiting if you can. I wanted to focus here though on the wit, humour and playfulness of some of the many exhibits such as this 1943 portrait of Dora Maar’s recently deceased pet dog made from a […]
Themes from Cars: Accelerating the Modern World at the V&A
This exhibition at the V&A wasn’t high on my list but I popped in as was in the area and was surprised to find it connected to so many other aspects of our lives in ways I hadn’t anticipated. Spoiler alert: no actual car photos in this post. Aspects covered included the role of women […]
Steve McQueen – Year 3 at Tate Britain
With everything going on in the world this exhibition in the Duveen Gallery is a much-needed example of hope in our future. As you may already know, the project, initiated by artist Steve McQueen, involved taking class photos of year 3 primary school pupils in every London borough. 1,504 schools took part (that’s 76,000 children) […]
