I saw more of London in one go than I have done since I was there on courses for four weeks when I first started work, and on the whole (allowing for the low-level unpleasantness of the tube, and a sore and therefore very tiring leg) I enjoyed it. You get into the rhythm of it, don't you - I ought to go back sooner rather than later, before it all starts to seem too much all over again.
It was truly enjoyable. Too much for one visit, really (when your leg hurts, moan moan) but I soldiered on (and even went up to see the Joseph Cornell exhibition upstairs). Like the annual Bath Society of Artists show, everything is cheek by jowl, and just sometimes it seemed terribly cramped, pinched even, but much of the rest of the time it was glorious. With so much art and so much wall to work with, they could do inventively shaped hanging, such as a right angle triangle of pieces here, or a column of smaller works next to an enormous one there, and have such playfulness shown off to advantage by the amount of space still around.
What did I like? Well, I really enjoyed the strongly coloured walls, especially the rich turquoise of the Wohl Central Hall and an amazing view through arches meaning I could see three coloured rooms in a row. I had serious doubts about the screaming magenta in gallery III, however - purely because I felt it seriously skewed how some pieces appeared. I think I might have been quite peeved if I had been showing this piece (left), for instance. The third quarter along is a very delicate shade of pale green, but that background wall distorts the colour and drains it away almost completely. It would have looked utterly different against a white wall. |
I chose a favourite piece, by Ian McKeever, quite early on in my tour of the exhibition, and in that pink room of all places. While I would be reluctant to call anything The favourite, it definitely remains up there, and it's not even a print! I tried to capture the marks in those rich burgundy areas too, but they came out improbably pink in the photo, which did them no justice.