I had seen the long term exhibitions in the Gallery many times before apart from the collections exhibit upstairs, so I decided to focus on that and the new Mark Leckey exhibition. I loved the collections part of the 2nd floor because it is about normal people. Many of the artifacts were just used by people in daily life, and meant something to them. Each one of them have a story to tell and yet no one will ever probably know them. There was a Victorian cross stitched pin lid in one of the collections. Stitched into the top it said 'You are not my sister'. It took me by surprise and really stood out for me because you would never have thought you would see that sort of message on an every day object. This to me sounds like it has a sinister tone, but it may have been endearing or an 'in joke' between the person who made it and who it was made for. This will however only ever be left up to the onlookers imagination from now on.
The other exhibit on the 2nd floor was from the artist Mark Leckey. I particularly enjoyed the video about the rave cultures of the 70s and 80s. It;s interesting to think of that happening in my parents era, even my parents going to them, when to me it seems a rather modern occurance. I also like the link between the image on the video, and the sound that was put with it. I was the only person in the room and there was the largest sound system I had ever seen for that size room, however it served its purpose. The base was so high, you could feel it heavily in your chest and pressure in your head. It kind of took over your body and you couldn't think of anything else. But once it seemed to be dieing away, it was as if you didn't want it to, like it had become the norm. It was an amazing and creative way of representing what you experience in the rave setting.
Showing posts with label Gallery Visits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gallery Visits. Show all posts
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 29th February
Global threads is the exhibition on in the Whitworth Art Gallery. It is about the use of cotton in our world today and how we are wasting and damaging the environment in our quest to get it. I liked the work in the 1st part of he exhibition which had cotton t-shirts with messages printed on them. They were very simple, yet were direct to the point and really made the audience stop and take notice.
The messages made note of the amount of wastage of water and energy to make even a small amount of cotton clothing, and the insanity of how many different countries a garment has to go to until all the process of its manufactue are completed.
There was also an exhibition of clothing which had been 'upcycled' where students from a local college had taken old clothes, and made something more exciting and beautiful out of them. It should really encourage us to see what we can actually do with the clothes we throw out.
The messages made note of the amount of wastage of water and energy to make even a small amount of cotton clothing, and the insanity of how many different countries a garment has to go to until all the process of its manufactue are completed.
There was also an exhibition of clothing which had been 'upcycled' where students from a local college had taken old clothes, and made something more exciting and beautiful out of them. It should really encourage us to see what we can actually do with the clothes we throw out.
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Academy of the Arts, Liverpool, 23rd February
We stumbled upon this gallery whilst trying to find the Open Eye gallery. It is a community based art project which exhibits its students work, but there was also another exhibition of vintage clothing integrated in. Unfortunately I was unable to take photos, but there was one garment which stood out for me; a 1940s silk blouse made of parachute silk. It had been made in the war from the silk of a German Parachute. This intrigued me because the essay I am writing for Contextualizing Practice is about creativity through World War 2.
Walker Gallery, Liverpool, 23rd February
Today I visited the galleries up in Liverpool. It was a very busy and tiring day, however I feel like I have gotten a lot out of it.
Firstly I made my way to the Walker Gallery. I was impressed by all the architecture up there, it was beautiful and reminded me on Edinburgh with the dark yellowy stone and the long columned buildings. Also the stone flagged pavements and square made me very happy.
In the Walker there were a few exhibitions on. The first I looked round on the ground floor was called Feathercut and Flares, which included a variety of outfits and films from the 70s. This interested me a lot because I was with my mum and she remembers people wearing these clothes. To me they almost look like a costume, and it is hard for me to imagine my parents wearing these because they seem like they are from another time. On the ground floor of the Walker there was also an exhibition of pottery which was intriguing because I am from near the the Potteries in Stoke so I feel a connection to the stone wear when I see it. In the far corner of the room, there was a necklace which was made up of Rhino horn and butterfly wings from the early part of last Centuary. It was interesting because it played with my morals somehow. Because on the one hand it was beautiful and the craftsman had used all natural components, and one the other those animals were most likely killed just for this accessory.
Upstairs were exhibitions by Henry Matisse, and John Kirkby. I found these to give me polar opposite responses. I loved Matisse's delicate and flowing lines. The drawings seemed to ooze confidance and I couldnt understand how the artist had managed to represent a recognizable form in so little marks. There were also pages from Matisse's Jazz book. The colours were so bright that they draw you in. I'm not a fan of using colour in my own work, however I always seem to be drawn to other peoples bright colours. In this book there was also more representation of nature rather than the human or animal form and I must say that interests me more.
The next room on was John Kirkby's the living and the dead exhibition. I found this a lot harder to look round than Matisse. It had too sombre a mood for me and I couldn't relate to the subject matter or the colours in any major way.
Firstly I made my way to the Walker Gallery. I was impressed by all the architecture up there, it was beautiful and reminded me on Edinburgh with the dark yellowy stone and the long columned buildings. Also the stone flagged pavements and square made me very happy.
In the Walker there were a few exhibitions on. The first I looked round on the ground floor was called Feathercut and Flares, which included a variety of outfits and films from the 70s. This interested me a lot because I was with my mum and she remembers people wearing these clothes. To me they almost look like a costume, and it is hard for me to imagine my parents wearing these because they seem like they are from another time. On the ground floor of the Walker there was also an exhibition of pottery which was intriguing because I am from near the the Potteries in Stoke so I feel a connection to the stone wear when I see it. In the far corner of the room, there was a necklace which was made up of Rhino horn and butterfly wings from the early part of last Centuary. It was interesting because it played with my morals somehow. Because on the one hand it was beautiful and the craftsman had used all natural components, and one the other those animals were most likely killed just for this accessory.
Upstairs were exhibitions by Henry Matisse, and John Kirkby. I found these to give me polar opposite responses. I loved Matisse's delicate and flowing lines. The drawings seemed to ooze confidance and I couldnt understand how the artist had managed to represent a recognizable form in so little marks. There were also pages from Matisse's Jazz book. The colours were so bright that they draw you in. I'm not a fan of using colour in my own work, however I always seem to be drawn to other peoples bright colours. In this book there was also more representation of nature rather than the human or animal form and I must say that interests me more.
The next room on was John Kirkby's the living and the dead exhibition. I found this a lot harder to look round than Matisse. It had too sombre a mood for me and I couldn't relate to the subject matter or the colours in any major way.
Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 23rd February
This Gallery was extremely hard to find. When we arrived to where Google maps said it should be, the building was empty and boarded up, so we trailed round trying to find it in the same area and finally gave up and decided to go to the tate instead. Whilst walking through Albert Docks we by chance came across the new building of the Open Eye Gallery next to the museum! There weren't a lot of exhibitions there, but what was there was interesting. There was an exhibition of photographs by Richard Simpkin which documented his obsession with the celebrity culture - there were about a thousand photos of him with diferent celebrities. It makes you think about the celebrity culture, and what;s the point. Because there were people in the photos that I didn't recognize, and some I only vaguely recognized from a long time ago. And I'm sure the people I did recognize would soon be in the same category.
There was also an exhibit upstairs of 'Painted photographs'. These were from before photoshop, and were the way inwhich newspapers and other media cut out particular celebrities faces from phtos to use in diferent contexts. It was surprising to see images I recognized of people such as Marylin Munroe and John Lenon and the context inwhich those images were taken. Many of the ones of John Lenon included Yoko Ono who had simply been cut round.
There was also an exhibit upstairs of 'Painted photographs'. These were from before photoshop, and were the way inwhich newspapers and other media cut out particular celebrities faces from phtos to use in diferent contexts. It was surprising to see images I recognized of people such as Marylin Munroe and John Lenon and the context inwhich those images were taken. Many of the ones of John Lenon included Yoko Ono who had simply been cut round.
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