Day down in London on Wednesday - and no not for Christmas shopping - do people not know me! I detest shopping so much that even though I'm going down the dress sizes because of all the exercise I'm doing at the moment I have no desire to go shopping for new clothes. I will just add more holes on my belt. Anyway back to London ...... a grey day but the Shard looked interesting and already the top of it is in the clouds:
Popped into V&A to see the Private Eye exhibition - very amusing. Had to remortgage the house in order to buy two cups of tea and a slice of cake, but the cafe is a gorgeous place to sit.
Over to Tate Modern to see a number of exhibitions including:
Photography: New Documentary Forms:
Mitch Epstein, Luc Delahaye, Guy Tillim, Akram Zaatari and Boris Mikhailov
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| Mitch Epstein |
Of all the photographers work on display I think I preferred Mitch's work - not just because it was the first one I looked at and I am inherently lazy! - but because he had a good idea, he researched it, he got people interested, he took his time completing it and he has got recognition at the end of it - oh to be so lucky.
Arte Povera
In the late 1960s artists began to experiment with using old, everyday materials. They were after all impoverished students. As I have learned recently at a lecture given by Erik Knudsen - Poverty can bred better work - so I was excited to see this exhibition. Some of the work was quite dull and other pieces very imaginative. Not only did they explore using poor materials but they also explored changing physical states. The piece about masturbation was - hum - interesting! I particularly loved this piece - which reminded me of my friends work.
Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism:
I got to see a Picasso and a Braque side by side - lovely.
Reminded myself just how much information I get from the Art timeline. It is painted across the entire wall of the Tate charting and marking the time of each Art movement and who was involved in it. I need to get my copy back up in the gallery dining room.
Silver birch trees outside the Tate Modern:
Had tea overlooking the Thames and St Paul's, watching the tide go out and watching people.
Then to the Odeon at Marble Arch to watch new Sherlock film. Home at 2am and totally done in.
Reflection:
For a long time the Tate only ever exhibited photographs that were taken by artists who use photography - like Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince - but what is clear now is that they are changing their policy on acquisitions and exhibiting photographer's photographs. I believe this has a lot to do with the the new appointment of their first-ever curator of photography - Simon Baker. This can only be good for photographers and I am pleased to have read that he asks photographers how they want their work to be displayed and this was clear to me when I saw the room containing Boris Mikhailov's Red and At Dusk projects.
This has finally answered a question which was raised in my head after reading 'Sausages and Food' by Keith Arnatt 1982 where he explored and examined whether we are artists or photographers and questioned why the Tate did not currate any photography exhibitions. He was certain that the Tate would change their policy at some point - seems it took another 25 years.
Reflection:
For a long time the Tate only ever exhibited photographs that were taken by artists who use photography - like Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince - but what is clear now is that they are changing their policy on acquisitions and exhibiting photographer's photographs. I believe this has a lot to do with the the new appointment of their first-ever curator of photography - Simon Baker. This can only be good for photographers and I am pleased to have read that he asks photographers how they want their work to be displayed and this was clear to me when I saw the room containing Boris Mikhailov's Red and At Dusk projects.
This has finally answered a question which was raised in my head after reading 'Sausages and Food' by Keith Arnatt 1982 where he explored and examined whether we are artists or photographers and questioned why the Tate did not currate any photography exhibitions. He was certain that the Tate would change their policy at some point - seems it took another 25 years.
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