24/07/2010 by bakary.

Seems like some Gormleys can’t handle the weather!

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01/06/2010 by bakary.

The Henry Moore exhibition at Tate Britain is a crowd-pleaser.

Reading the exhibition booklet, you learn that in the 1920’s, Moore was considered a radical, experimental and avant-garde figure. Words like radicalism, experimental and avant-garde when used in conjunction with Art make me quiver. Considering how popular he is nowadays… I cheekily wonder what went right for him?

In the first few rooms, you see how much Moore took in from his trips to the British Museum. Works such as “Head” (1923) or “Masks” (1928-1929) are clearly influenced by early non-Western cultures.

Other favourites include “Woman with Upraised Arms” (1924-5), which has a distinctly Soviet feel to it, and “Square Form” (1936), which looks like an elephant to me!

In the 1930’s, Moore’s work took more abstract and suggestive forms. Some say erotic, other surrealist. Part of the attraction I have with Moore’s works has to do with the way he experimented with different textures, be it stone or wood, bone or pebbles. Stone is manipulated, as if it was play-doh, to expose the pure beauty of the stone. And don’t you think that the shapes and the smoothness of the statues are inviting you to stroke them and caress them? You want to be involved, touch them, feel them. Engagement of this nature is unusual for avant-garde works.

Moore became so popular that he was receiving commissions from everywhere and his works can now be found in streets and parks all over the world. His appeal transcending cultures and boundaries.

Think about Henry Moore’s work and you’re very likely going to think about reclining figures. These impressive statues indeed have become synonymous with Moore. I was intrigued, however, to discover another side to Moore’s work, a darker side. “Four Grey Sleepers” (1941) from his Shelter Drawings really gives a sense of the nightmares people were experiencing, bundled so closely together in the Tube. “At the Coalface: Miner Pushing a Tub” (1942) is stunning. It conveys the harshness of mining and exposes horrendous working conditions and yet it’s beautifully executed.

“Composition” (1931) reminded me of “Amazonian Field” by Antony Gormley. Why not? Moore may well have influenced Gormley. Many artists have been and many more will be. But Moore’s influence is far more reaching. Thanks to the Henry Moore Foundation, which Moore started in 1977, literally hundreds of artists benefit from much needed grants each year.

Henry Moore is on at Tate Britain until 8 August 2010. Admission fee.

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16/04/2010 by bakary.

Oh dear… it seems that Antony Gormley’s life-size statues are creating quite a stir in New York!

When the exhibition was in London, I was excitedly trying to see how many of the statues I could see in one go. In New York however, concerned members of the public are phoning the police, worried that people are about to commit suicide.

So… what do we make of all this? Art is powerful and Gormley’s statues are making a big impact on the NY Art scene? Gormley’s statues are impressively human-like? Gormley’s work is yet to be recognised for what it is by the NY masses? Our neighbours across the Atlantic are more caring about their fellow human beings than we are? Answer on a postcard please.

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13/04/2010 by bakary.

Not quite sure what I make of Somerset House as an exhibition venue for the (free) exhibition, A Positive View.

The building itself is amazing and I must confess that I spent a fair bit of my time there admiring the architecture (and I noticed that they offer guided tours!). But… I was slightly puzzled that the exhibition was split in two, for no other reasons than the fact that it was too big for the space it was allocated in the first place. There was no real theme or century divides that I could see… and so three rooms into it, having just got into it, you have to find your way down the stairs and through a few doors (via an outdoor space) into the remaining few rooms… Weird.

Still… this did not really detract from the good stuff on show and a fair number of images really caught my eye such as ‘Audrey Hepburn at the Ritz‘ (1964); ‘Untitled‘ by Seydou Keita (1952, a man with a bicycle); ‘Givenchy Hat (b) Paris’ (1958); ‘Garlic (1996)’  and ‘Roses‘ (2007).

Even better were the iconic ‘Wyoming‘ (1954); ‘Transvoid Manfred‘ (2008/9); ‘Brian May‘ (1996).

And there there were ‘1404 Pressburg Street, New Orleans 2006‘ and ‘6328  North Miro Street, New Orleans 2006‘ by Robert Pridori and last but not least… ‘A local man walking home from work‘ by Don Mccullin. Stunning.

This made me wonder how such works could be hung in the same exhibition as fluffy images of Keira Knightley or Kate Moss taken purely as advertising shots…

Still, I am getting better at following my New Year’s resolution and concentrating on what I like now, instead of trying to cram it all in and ending up not taking in what appeals to me.

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21/03/2010 by bakary.

Clement Greenberg refers to Gorky as “one of the most important painters of his generation anywhere in the world”.  With my limited knowledge, I would now refer to him as the biggest con artist in the world. Well, there you go… bet this will infuriate some of you!

Knowing nothing about Arshile Gorky, I scanned the internet and read many articles praising the artist, in preparation for my visit to Tate Modern yesterday. I was amazed to find out about the influence he had on future generations and how well regarded he was/is. Imagine how let down I now feel.

There was very little in the Gorky retrospective  I hadn’t seen before. Self Portrait (c. 1928) was obviously influenced by Cezanne, other works were clearly influenced by Cubism; there were traces of Miro and Kandinsky on many canvasses. Check out Diary of a Seducer (1945); Central Park at Dusk (1936-42); Nude (c. 1946) or The Liver is the Cock’s Comb (c. 1943).

And so perplexed, I deduced that may be when Gorky was taking in the work of European artists and letting it influence his work, this was not something that America was very familiar with. I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with this. In essence, you’re influenced by what you see and read and other people will be influence by what they see and read.

It would be unfair to say, however, that I’m not a Gorky fan. I enjoyed Nighttime, Enigma and Nostalgia (ink on paper, c. 1932); The Artist and His Mother (c. 1926-36); Untitled (c. 1943-8); Painting (c. 1943-7); Charred Beloved II  (1946) and the study for Aviation: Evolution of Forms under Aerodynamic Limitations (c. 1935-6). I also liked the Armenian wooden plows. The smoothness of the wood turning what is essentially a workman’s tool into a work of art.

Gorky reworked his paintings over many years and I can understand what he meant when he said that a finished painting was a dead painting.

His portraits can be seen as naive but at the same time, I couldn’t help but associate The Artist and His Mother to an icon. That Armenian born Gorky be influenced by iconic works is perhaps not surprising but the simplicity of the work and the intensity of emotions on display make this one of my favourite works.

I wouldn’t say “don’t go” but go with an open mind and try not to read too much about Gorky beforehand.

Arshile Gorky: a Retrospective is on at Tate Modern until 3 May 2010. Admission fee.

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14/03/2010 by bakary.

Promoted by the French tourist board, this exhibition was more to do with encouraging people to holiday in France this summer than beautiful shots one may have expected from an exhibition at the National Geographic store.

And so, we had images of families enjoying themselves on the beach. The message loud and clear, go to France for your summer holidays, you’ll have fun!

A few images were, however, of superior quality. Petr Krejci’s evocative image of petanque for example. Or Blaise Perrin’s image taken at a stall.  These looked composed and a bit arty compared to the ‘holiday shots’ which made up the rest of the exhibition. But then again, at a time when people are starting to plan their summer holidays, may be we want to sea images of sea, sun and fun!

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07/03/2010 by bakary.

I have found exhibitions at the British Library to be long and laborious to get through in the past… and so I had cleared a few hours in my diary for this one.

But this time, it was more of a case of ‘less is more’. Points of view: Capturing the 19th Century in Photographs was well laid out and you could easily absorb the images without fearing information overload.

I liked the fact that right from its beginning, photography was seen as art. Photographic pioneers  took time to composed their shots and also realised that photography could play an very important role in documenting life. Or that it could play an active part the day-to-day life, such as identifying and recording criminals. But mug shots are one thing… the French guy who thought that criminals could be identified by their physical features may have gone a bit too far.

There was an opportunity to see photos of the Prussian war and of London past and present; you could play with early prototypes of 3-D glasses; see how popular photography started with mass processing and competitions; there was an example of one of the first x-ray images.

But the images that made it for me were the “Norfolk Broads” photos from Peter Henry Emerson. A stunning piece of photo documentary. The images so well composed, so beautiful and so telling of an age and a way of life.

Well done the British Library! We want more of the same please.

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22/02/2010 by bakary.

I came across this exhibition by chance. I’d never been to the Hoopers Gallery before and was given a warm welcome on arrival, which made up for the miserable drenching journey.

And to be honest, I’d never heard of Gina Glover either but the review of Liminal World I read caught my eye. “A gorgeous antidote to our fast-paced life” (copyright Steve Pill, Metro).

Glover uses a pinhole camera which requires long exposures and this gives her images a very distinct feel: the figures blur a little, colours blend together slightly. They look like images from dreams.

A simple object commanding the image such as Blue Bench or Yellow Hut. Or we’re faced with a landscape which draws you in and captures your imagination such as The High Road, Storm or France Profonde. Lovely stuff.

The exhibition continues downstairs with Pathways to Memory 1986-1999 but these works are different, more biographical. They’re good images, well taken and composed. Family members and familiar objects in her garden. Not for me I’m afraid. And I’m sorry I saw these last as it took away from my enjoyment of Liminal World.

Liminal World is on at the Hoopers Gallery until 5 March. FREE.

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14/02/2010 by bakary.

Yep, another exhibition visited on its last day. Determined not to miss this one, I was there at opening time and I only had to share the exhibits with a handful of people, which was surprising and delightful.

The GSK Contemporary, Earth: Art of a Changing World exhibition was held in what I understand was the old Museum of Mankind. Located at the back of the Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, I felt, was a bit of an awkward space for contemporary art pieces.

Obviously, the main attraction there as far as I’m concerned was “Amazonian Field” (Antony Gormley). This was the third time I’ve come face to face with this work; I adore those terracotta figures. Packed together, they filled the room they were in, a few of them almost creeping out. Staring at you, it seems that there is a lot they want to tell you. Going down to their level (lying on the floor), you’re almost overwhelmed by their presence.

The overall theme of the exhibition linked art to climate change. Is art jumping on the climate change band-wagon I wondered? Can “Amazonian Field” for example be successfully linked to climate change now (the work was made in 1992 when climate change was definitely not in the news)? Gormley himself apparently was intrigued to see how the work could be reinterpreted. Is it valid for artists to have a voice and for their art to reflect their views? Is Art still Art if it has a ‘political’ point?

Some pieces, like”Kings of the Hill” (Yael Bartana) or “Heart of Darkness” (Cornelia Parker), do make you think of the (negative)  impact we have on the world. In the first one, men play with their big cars, wasting petrol and destroying the environment just for fun. In the second one, we see the remnants of a forest fire, a controlled burn which got out of control.

Other pieces were enjoyable just for being themselves and certainly did not make me think about the big issue. I particularly liked “It’s My Island I”: a video in which Finish artist Antti Laitinen builds his own island in the Baltic sea. I could have spent a lot of time staring at “Tide”(Darren Almond), a 567 digital clock display ticking away. And I still don’t know what to make of “100 Years” (Kris Martin). This small golden sphere is due to explode a 100 years from its creation (2004). Really? Why? How will we know if it did? Pointless? And then there was “Doomed” (Tracey Moffat), a video collage of movie disasters. This was supposed to explore our obsession with disasters… Chilling clips which made me drift away to think about the tsunami or the even more recent earthquake in Haiti. And if anything, it reaffirmed my belief that The Towering Inferno is still one of the best disaster films of all time.

GSK Contemporary, Earth: Art of a Changing World certainly raised some questions; but may be not the questions it was setting out to do.

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07/02/2010 by bakary.

The Sacred Made Real at the National Gallery was my first venture in an art gallery so far this year.

The reviews were alluring and tantalising. Referred to, simply, as the best exhibition of the year, when it opened in 2009. There was a lot to like… only a few pieces were shown in each room. Each piece therefore was given the space to breathe. Each piece important enough to command your undivided attention. The lighting low and subdued; encouraging the audience to whisper or remain silent. These are objects of devotion normally seen in churches and there was a reverential silence in each room.

In 17th-century Spain, religious art got the realism treatment… whether it was meant to shock, I’m not sure… but realism brought a much needed oomph to the Catholic Church. You were no longer just praying to an icon; you were face to face with a living person, whose very pain and sadness was there for you to see.

The austerity of the works in sharp contrast with some of the goriness on display. The severed ‘Head of Saint John the Baptist’ certainly proved a hit with a couple of children in the room at the same time as me; the blood on the severed neck hinting at the fresh decapitation. ‘Christ on the Cross (’Cristo de los Desamparados’)’ invites you to reflect on the pain which Christ suffered but if you have any doubts, his shadow on the wall will refute these as you see him pulling from the nails; his body slumped forward, helplessly.

The Culture Show’s review of this exhibition drew our attention to a couple of pieces, ‘The Virgin of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)’ and ‘Dead Christ’ and these were indeed fabulous in their realism… but ‘The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception’ was one of my favourite pieces. The detail of her drapery and her face meant that you had to look twice to reassure yourself that it was a statue you were looking at, not a real person. As for ‘Saint Francis Borgia’, I simply could not hold his gaze.

Yes, the standard of the works on show was extremely high… but this exhibition was a success because the curator got it spot on. They didn’t want you to simply visit this exhibition; they wanted you to experience it. Simply astounding.

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