The British Museum‘s Samurai exhibiton was understandably hugely popular. We’re all familiar with images of samurai armour but one of the things I appreciated about the show was learning about other aspects of this warrior class. I wanted to share here a small part of the show: the spear cover standards used to identify different […]
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. Email me at info@carolinebanks.co.uk with your name and email to receive a weekly post that only takes 1 minute to read.
Veronica Ryan: Multiple Conversations at Whitechapel Gallery, London
This retrospective at Whitechapel Gallery covers five decades of Veronica Ryan‘s career, from the 1980s to 2026 including new works specially commissioned for the show. I’ve focussed here on her use of seed pods and fruit as the theme runs throughout her career (see the drawing above from 1983). They represent growth and possibility, decay […]
Icheon ceramics at the Korean Cultural centre
This was my first visit to the Korean Cultural Centre and long overdue, given my appreciation of Korean ceramics (and films). I was passing close by (it’s on Northumberland Avenue, just off Trafalgar Square) so popped in to see what was on. This is what I found: Icheon and Beyond: The Space Within Form. Laozi’s […]
Samuel Laurence Cunnane: Blue Road at the HENI Project Space, Hayward Gallery, London.
The HENI project space is just to the right when you enter the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank. I’d only ever seen a security guard standing there and had no idea that it was a third (and free) space till I stepped inside. I found The Blue Road, an exhibition of photographs by Samuel […]
Chiharu Shiota: Threads of Life at Hayward Gallery
Threads of Life by Chiharu Shiota is another exhibition at the Hayward Gallery using textiles, this time thread and is a definite crowd pleaser – very Instagrammable. The first installation, Threads of Life, is an amorphous red web with 20,000 suspended keys and a pair of open wooden doors in the centre, beckoning you to […]
Yin Xiuzhen: Heart to Heart at the Hayward Gallery
Heart to Heart by Yin Xiuzhen is currently on at the Hayward Gallery, part of London’s South Bank Centre. I was interested to see it as I have myself experienced the rapid urban development in the artist’s homeland, China. This installation of an airport luggage carousel greets you on entry with models of different cities […]
Matt Collishaw: Aftermaths at The Long Now, Saatchi Gallery
Another work that impressed me in The Long Now at Saatchi Gallery was Aftermaths by Matt Collishaw. The imagining of a dystopian underwater world, the result of unintended consequences of our actions: environmental pollution, overconsumption, AI, genetic engineering… Strange creatures have evolved, mutants of existing forms escaped from labs or developed in response to pollutants […]
The Long Now: Richard Wilson’s 20:50 at Saatchi Gallery London
The Long Now, an exhibition celebrating 40 years of the Saatchi Gallery is on till the 26th of April. One of the highlights for me was Richard Wilson’s 20:50. I had heard about this piece when it was first exhibited but had never experienced it in real life till now. First a description. The room […]
After Glow: James Turrell
This was a small exhibition of prints by James Turrell at the Gagosian gallery in Burlington Arcade. The Roden Crater is a volcanic crater out in the Painted Desert of Arizona bought by Turrell back in the 1970s and turned into a massive land-art site to experience and contemplate light. The architectural drawings on show […]
The Moon Palace
I popped in to the Royal Academy during Spring half-term and discovered this in the courtyard. The Moon Palace is a former school bus converted into a fully functioning observatory for budding scientists of all ages. It was created for the East Leeds Project by artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison in partnership with the […]