Installed in the Duveen Gallery at Tate Britain, Hew Locke’s aim is, in his words, to “mix ideas of attraction and ideas of discomfort – colourful and attractive, but strangely, scarily surreal at the same time.” I found it to be the case: bright colours and a glorious mix of textures and materials but really […]
Artists
Nicolas Deshayes: Gargouilles at Modern Art Gallery
This recent sculpture exhibition, Gargouilles, by Nicolas Deshayes at Modern Art has that seductive/repellent quality that I find so intriguing. What we think of as soft, organic forms are rendered here in hard, heavy materials. The beautiful production and finish of these pieces belies their subject matter – I feel fascination with an edge of […]
Spark at the Greenwich & Docklands International Festival
Spark launched the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival (GDIF) this year with an immersive display of “sustainable fireworks”. Developed by Studio Roosegaarde, a social design lab headed by Daan Roosegaarde, Spark was inspired by the movement of fireflies and a desire to transform the usual fireworks or even confetti of traditional celebrations. It is such […]
Alienarium 5 at the Serpentine Gallery
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster is an artist whose work evokes atmosphere over object and her multi-facetted installation, Alienarium 5 at the Serpentine Gallery is created around a simple yet surprising and unusual premise: “What if aliens were in love with us?” . So many sci-fi narratives explore the aggressive and frightening side of alien life; in this […]
Black Chapel, the Serpentine Pavilion 2022
Black Chapel by artist Theaster Gates is this year’s Serpentine pavilion which I visited on a scorchingly hot day, one of too many in London this summer. The dark interior was a welcome respite from the intense glare and heat. A simple circular structure, the main space is for congregation and reflection, exactly like a […]
Georg Baselitz at the Pompidou Centre, Paris
Whist not a fan of Georg Baselitz in the past, this huge retrospective at the Pompidou Centre in Paris back in February gave me much more insight into his practice. I’ve now been converted to admirer. Being able to see his creative journey, not only in time but also in different media really helped put […]