Exhibition wanderings

I have l had little blogging time due to a very busy January, but several artistic visits have been made.

Monochrome at the National Gallery, an unexpectedly absorbing exhibition of works in one tone, including several textiles. on until 18th February

Hannah Ryggen, a most Swedish / Norwegian politically involved  artist / artisan weaver - tapestries at Modern Art Oxford until 18th February. I was fascinated by these works, particularly the variety of themes and how she literally wove her domestic life into her art alongside depictions of huge political events. She raised her own sheep, carded her own wool, spun it, dyed it with natural materials and wove without any preparatory sketches or backing cartoons.

My eye was drawn to the shadows created by the gallery lights on the fringes of the larger tapestries

The Lost Words, the most marvellous display of watercolour paintings on gold leaf , from the book of the same name by Jackie Morris and Robert MacFarlane.  At The Foundling Museum until 8th May. Truly beautiful, and although I own a copy of the book, to see the paintings glow in the light of the gallery in a way that is impossible to convey in a printed image is a wonderful experience.

A visit to Warwick University Theatre ( younger son was playing bass guitar for a production of Rent) allowed time to see an installation of huge oil paintings by Clare Woods , on until 10 March. These are so new, you can smell the oil in the gallery, and they invite such close looking it was very difficult not to touch them. The educational activities attached to the exhibition are really superb, with a range of art materials and papers available for anyone to make their now work inspired by what they have seen.

Wanderings in St James to The Portland Gallery to see firstly the superb pantings of Scottish landscape by Frances MacDonald. ( exhibition now finished, and over 90% of works on display were sold) She uses a palette knife with such gusto, she sweeps you in to her paintings.

Then to The White Cube to see puzzling works by Korean artist, Mindjung Kim. I can appreciate the artistry of the works in ink on mulberry paper,( emending me of the shadows above)  but the assemblages of strips of coloured paper didn’t stimulate a great deal of interest for me.

 

Great fun at the Philip Mould Gallery , until 18th February, with an exhibition of hats by, and a painting of, the millinery maker, Victoria Grant

 

Multiples of objects seen with reflections of London life

 

 

 My own multiples are also developing in a charcoal drawing inspired by the necks of gannets and the twisting structure of a wisteria pod

 

Sewing has been functional rather than artistic: repairing cushions; making hessian bags to use when transplanting garden plants; sewing hems, so no point in showing any of that.

Edinburgh, Dovecot Studio, Daughters of Penelope

A fab’ few days in Edinburgh, with a highlight as ever being a visit to the Dovecot Studios. The light was shining down on to the studio floor, making the colours glow

Work in progress in the studio

Surrounding the walls of the viewing floor, an exhibition about tapestry as architectural commissions. One of my favourite artists, Victoria Crowe, has just completed a commission, in conjunction with Dovecot for the Leatherseller’s Company. Seeing the artist's  sketches, initial work-ups, weaver’s ( NaomiRobertson ) workups, the full working process, samples of weaving techniques is marvellous.  The heraldic blue, yellow and red are both historical and contemporary.

Downstairs, a superb exhibition called Daughters of Penelope. So many wonderful things to see here, on until January 2018.

A rug that was made to move within a dance performance

Monotone weaving

Ash seeds woven in to a textile

A recording of spinning songs that, from the comments in the exhibition notebook, divided the opinions of the attendees. I loved it and was intrigued by the circular notation of the singing. Great embroidery potential there.

Serpentine gallery, pavilion and cafe

To the Serpentine, so see this summer’s pavilion, designed by Francis Kéré, a festival of triangles, so lots of resonance for a quilter. Superb blue colour, great shapes, wonderful shadows. Apparently it is designed such that when it rains, there is a waterfall of water cascading down in to the middle.

Then in to the gallery, after a short wait to see the free  Grayson Perry exhibition. Pieces in many media, and some that were on display recently at the British Museum. There are two small cases with his sketchbooks, which I always love to see. The largest piece is the tapestry “Battle of Britain”. Ten of these have been made. For the quilters reading this, there are several quilt designs in the background of this tapestry, but I can’t find commentary about why Perry has chosen to include these. Don’t look any further if you want to go to the exhibition and find them yourself. The subtlety of the weaving matches that of the colours in the Chris Ofili tapestry, but Perry’s tapestries are machine woven by Flanders Tapestries.

Finishing off with a walk across the bridge to a cup of tea within the sinuous curves of the Magazine restaurant, designed by Zaha Hadid.

 

 

 

Exhibitionist

I have a week’s leave to “ use or loose” so am combining a list of household management tasks with attendance at several exhibitions this week.  So far:

Chris Beetles Gallery, The Illustrators 2015, on until 9th January

What a treat to see so many original illustrations one place, all framed beautifully and consistently so that the eye was not distracted from the image.  There is a superb online catalogue that contains all 354 images, here, and if I had infinite funds, I would have bought Aubrey Beardsley and Quentin Blake - especially “On the Roof” featuring Mrs Armitage.

 White Cube Gallery, Mason’s Yard, “Losing the compass”, on until 9th January

Lots of textiles, but I really wasn’t sure about this one.  Some if it seemed more like “losing the plot” rather than ‘losing the compass”.  Acrylic paint on the top surface of a piece of carpet, then stuck in a frame, not for me.  Some interesting historical quilts, but displayed in a rather odd way, lying on top each other on the floor and hung from hooks on the wall such that the whole design couldn’t be seen.  I did like the embroidered maps and slogans by Alighiero e Boetti

Sims Reed Gallery, Bury Street, until 20 January.  Lovely drawings and painting by David Hockney and beautifully drawn pumpkins by Yayoi Kusama.

Joy of joys, using my Tate membership  - thank you mother in law, to see Alexander Calder  - Performing Sculpture. ( on until April 2016) I could have sat there all day, watching the shadows, and the gentle movements.  Despite the signs asking for no blowing on the sculptures, some people could not resist.  The 3D wire sculptures of heads and acrobats were a real revelation, and made me understand some of the comments from my drawing teacher about using the  weight of line to show ‘disappearing and appearing space’.

Then, thanks to a tip off from a friend who works in the art word, a visit to Omer Trioche Contemporary Art, where a small show of Calder tapestries and gouaches finishes this weekend.  It is a bit intimidating visiting these little galleries, as you have to ring the bell and request entrance but nothing ventured as they say.   Photography was allowed here.  

Vibrant reds and yellows lit up the gloomy day.  These are not tapestries in the conventional sense of weaving, but are rather braids of fibres placed on edge and then attached to a backing.  The scale is not apparent here, but this star was about a metre across the widest part.

The braided cords can be clearly seen here.

On my travels, interesting architectural details that caught my eye

Current turbine hall installation “Empty Lot” 

Cheesegrater, Walkie-Talkie, Gherkin, and Monument, just appearing in gold, now completely dwarfed by these monsters of commerce.

Worshipful companies’ signs, which due to the wonders of the internet, I can now research.  Glaziers here, Scientific Instrument Makers here and Launderers here.

British Museum of Food was new to me

and in the basement, Alcoholic Architecture, only open in the evening.

Shard partially concealed by a tree

Workers on the Millennium Bridge - love those sinuous lines - of the bridge that is, not of the workers

The old and the new - almshouses disappearing underneath recently-built towers

 

Colour and shine in a shaft of light coming through the gloom

Bollards, and what looks like a giant, upturned, steel mug supporting this building

London getting ready for Christmas, from a balcony at Tate Modern.

Home for dinner, and hopefully tomorrow, if my brain and feet hold out a trip to Goldsmith’s to see the work of Christine Risley, a contemporary and colleague of Constance Howard.