Caged Hearts

One week after the art gallery crawl in Mayfair where we all marvelled at Gerhard Richter's unstoppable experimentations, the Contemporary Art and Culture Explorers went to see the Glass Heart exhibition at Two Temple Place on Sunday.

It's an exploration of glass, from the mid-19th century until today. It's about cultural heritage, identity, the environmental crisis, and a celebration of a surprising material in the surroundings of a sumptuous building with mahogany carvings. Even the entrance to the ladies' loo is ornate!

It wasn't easy to keep our group of ten together because the building was very busy and the spaces narrow, but we managed to have a lovely chat at the café afterwards.

It's an interesting exhibition, with some great modern and contemporary pieces, although not quite what I expected. Some are just beautiful objects, some more thought-provoking pieces.

I particularly liked Peter Layton's glass hearts in a cage and John Piper's abstract work (lead and glass).

We all noticed Brian Clarke's green panels: we had seen his works recently at Newport Street gallery, and we commented that the effect in a wooden-panelled room was completely different from the bright white walls and spacious rooms at the gallery.

I found the rooms a bit too dark, but it may have been a necessity for some of the artworks on display.

It's a great idea to let you touch some of the works, like one piece of Chris Day's Judge & Jury, in glass and copper. 

The videos about the techniques used to achieve the textures are a great addition to the exhibition, and we found them illuminating :-)

A lovely afternoon as always, talking about art.

The exhibition runs until 21 April 2024, so plenty of time to catch up.

The Bold and The Brave

It took me ages to decide that setting up a meetup group was a good idea, while it took me less than three months to conclude I made the right decision. 

I feel grateful for the interesting people I met and for the friends who decided to support me in this journey. 

We ended 2023 with a visit to the Foundling Museum for The Mother and The Weaver, showing over 40 works from the Ursula Hauser Collection, all by women artists, in conversation with the permanent collection. 

The Foundling Museum was the first public art gallery in England! It tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, Britain’s first home for children at risk of abandonment. It has a fascinating story in itself, controversial for sure since leaving a child in hospital care could be seen as an act of abandonment, but also an act of love and hope, as the leaflet of the exhibition points out.

And the entire museum feels like an act of love. 

We liked the emotional works on display, including Louise Burgeois, Sonia Gomes, and Sheila Hicks, but the surprise was Maria Lassning’s intense paintings. There are so many women artists we do not know about!

All starts with Burgeois’s spider as a symbol of motherhood and creativity through weaving. But the exhibition is also about trauma, the body, and female identity. Most importantly, we felt welcome, almost cuddled at times, although challenged and encouraged to think, to go deeper.

The museum’s mission is to transform lives through creative action, and I think we all know how important art can be to change lives.

The Italian painter Pasquarosa – whose exhibition we visited as the first group’s event of 2024 - is a testament to that since she carved a place for herself as an artist at a difficult time for women.

I had never been to the Estorick Collection, Britain’s only museum devoted to modern Italian art. 

Pasquarosa Marcelli, who died in 1973, started as a model, married the painter Nino Bertoletti, met many artists of the time, including Luigi Pirandello, and became a self-taught painter. She mostly painted still lives in vivid colours, but one of our favourite works was a portrait of Angelina, showing Pasquarosa’s interesting experimentation with texture and compelling boldness. We were also intrigued by the evolution of her work towards more abstract forms and by the juxtaposition with her husband’s work. He painted Pasquarosa like a Madonna, in quiet familiar settings or neutral colours. 

Weird. The idea we got from Pasquarosa’s paintings was very different; she seems a passionate woman, brave, and bold, even when she paints a not-so-exciting vase of purple flowers.

Contrary to many women artists of her time, she was successful during her life and even participated in the Venice Biennale. What happened then? Was she forgotten? 

The Estorick collection includes other Italian artists, quite familiar to me but not to the rest of the group. We ended up talking about all things Italian, and dreaming of Italian ice cream at the cosy café downstairs. 

A Maze of Art and Wonder

It has been a busy week for the Contemporary Art and Culture Explorers.

On Wednesday night, we went to the private view of the Art Maze Exhibition at Bargehouse. Walking to the event in the crispy evening, I could not but stop and admire the lights on the Thames. 

We met on the ground floor of this beautifully decaying warehouse and started exploring the thirteen very different spaces. Paintings, sculptures, installations, sound art and a fascinating performance. I had the chance to talk to some new additions to the group. What a lovely bunch of people!

While climbing the stairs up to the top floors, we talked to some of the exhibiting artists, admired the artworks and... mostly, we discussed on prices. From £200 to £10,000 is a huge gap, and we did not always agree. Some works did seem underpriced, and some seemed overpriced. We decided that how much we are willing to spend boils down to what we like and what resonates with us. It was a shame that there were so not many artists introducing their works, but we enjoyed the company, the conversations and vibes of the edgy building and the artwork so much that we stayed until they kicked us out because it was too late!

On Sunday afternoon, we met at the Garden Museum, a real gem in London, to visit Frank Walter’s exhibition.

Artist, Gardener, and Radical, Frank Walter lived and worked in Antigua. The clever display chosen by the curators highlights Walter’s primitive, sincere, powerful paintings: landscape, environmental concerns, Caribbean and Black identity, social justice, and the complexity of nature are the themes of this small but mighty exhibition. Not to be missed, it’s on until 25 February. 

 Our unstoppable explorers were not tired at all, so we decided to go and visit Newport Street Gallery as well, which is only 5 minutes walk away.

Skulls, flowers, especially orchids, and jellyfish. Brian Clarke’s stained glass works are wonderful. The stained glass pieces in the folding frames are just fascinating. The colours, the scale, the light, everything works. We also saw a selection of lead works and collages. 

We had a great time and earned tea at the welcoming Garden Museum cafe, with its big windows on the internal patio. Some of us took the bus to Waterloo and went on chatting about theatre, films and more exhibitions, of course!

Here are some arty tips if you have time to spare during the holidays, before going back to work in January:

• Anselm, Wim Wender’s film about Anselm Kiefer may be for art nerds, but it is a celebration of an artist and a wonderful trip into the artist's mind and the creative process. Being different, controversial and not following the ordinary path can be isolating, and difficult, but can also lead to greatness. In cinemas now.

• The Greek artist Sophia Vari’s powerful exhibition at Waddington Custot. Sculptures in marble and bronze with oils, collages and watercolours. The sculptures are wonderful, contained but full of movement, strong but harmonious, abstract but human. I also loved the curation of the display. Worth a visit, until 27 January.

• Antony Gormley at White Cube Bermondsey until 28 January. Iron, steel, clay, concrete. A series of works reflecting on our condition as humans now. A field of bodies, rusty sculptures leaning against the wall, tired? Depressed? Exhausted? Pensive? Each room is different and fascinating in its own way. 

Only Fools and Horses… More Horses

Let’s call it serendipity. Once I got home after another inspiring visit with the Contemporary Art and Culture Explorers last Saturday, I realised that the title of my favourite painting of the day was Only Fools and Horses, which is also a TV series a friend suggested to me as a way of learning a bit of English slang.

Despite the polar temperatures, our Magnificent Seven gathered in the foyer of the Saatchi Gallery on time. We focused on the free exhibitions on the ground floor, off a very busy and festive King’s Road. 

We started with Moving Parts, an exhibition combining Kathryn MacNaughton’s dynamic and powerful abstract paintings with the playful silver sculptures of Serbian artist Misha Milovanovic.

The gallery presents the exhibition as an 'exploration of the relationship between the human figure and space'. We all agreed that the connection between the two artists was actually unclear, but we enjoyed the display. A fascinating video on the creative process, with the two artists at work in their studio, was a great addition to the experience.

In the second gallery, there was the highlight of the day, Andrew Salgado’s solo exhibition Tomorrow I'll be Perfect. I started following his work a few years ago and found it interesting how it has developed. Salgado’s fantastical, multi-layered paintings are full of recurrent themes (the dog, flowers, skulls, birds, philosophy books), possibly exploring personal identity. The saturated vibrant colours contrast with sadness, melancholy, or maybe worry about the future. It was super-interesting to listen to everyone’s interpretation of the artworks, especially of the last one near the exit, 'The Rites'.

 We loved it!

Finally, we looked at the ART FOR CHANGE Prize exhibition. In particular, I was curious to see Natasha Bothelho Cook’s artwork, The Garden of Dried Roses. We exhibited together a while ago, and I wanted to wish her well.

 Mostly, we were intrigued by the materials used by the artists in this group show.

 It was time for a warming coffee and a snack. 

 We were lucky to find a big table for all of us at the nearby Pret, where we chatted about the best exhibitions we have visited recently. We discussed how artists we did not know very well - or at all – surprised us, like Claudette Johnson or Philip Guston, and decided we were happy we had found the courage to go out and meet with a lovely bunch of art explorers, despite the cold weather.

The night before, some of us had been to the annual lecture of the National Gallery, presented by the architect Annabelle Selldorf, about the relationship between architecture and art in museum settings. We sat next to Nicholas Serota, Nick. Now that we rubbed shoulders with a celebrity in the London art scene, nothing's going to stop us.

Cambridge: Black Atlantic and Kettle's Yard

Our Friday Art Club’s long-awaited trip to Cambridge did not get off to a good start. Some of us could not make it, but a small group decided to go. Despite train disruptions, cancellations, and changes, we got in freezing Cambridge.

Due to the cold wind and the delays, we opted for a bus ride to the museum instead of a long walk. It felt like being on an adventure, off to the Fitzwilliam Museum, in an electric bus with futuristic wireless chargers available on each seat. 

After a yummy pistachio cake at the café and a lovely chat, we visited the exhibition Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance.
In 1816, Fitzwilliam donated money and art to the University of Cambridge, creating the museum named after him. His generosity was also possible because of the wealth accumulated through the transatlantic slave trade. The exhibition acknowledges that history and brings together objects and artworks from the past and contemporary artists, presenting a different perspective. 

It is a powerful display, very well curated, and it made an impact on us.

We will probably never forget Keith Piper’s display case containing fifteen pots of coloured pigment, each related to a skin tone. It refers to the “scientific” dehumanising classification of people based on the colour of their skin. We tried to find our colour and decided that none of us was “white gentry”, maybe more “white labourer”. Shocking and unmissable.

We watched the video passionately narrating the experience on a slave ship, and we all admired Barbara Walker’s simple though powerful graphite drawings on embossed white paper.

The most emotional moment of the exhibition was probably the dinner service created by the American-Jamaican artist Jacqueline Bishop. The beautiful colourful plates reveal the horrors of violence, especially against women working at the plantations. 

We love it when art is beautiful and meaningful at the same time! Wow. 

It is fair to say that the stunning very white ceilings of the museum made a remarkably different impression on us after that. 

Cambridge has always had a special place in my heart, and walking along Trinity Street and checking up on the colleges is a must. 

Defying the chilly temperatures, we got to Kettle’s Yard to visit the group exhibition Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends.
It did not impress us. We felt it was too disconnected, maybe too experimental, if not confusing. For me, art is a solitary endeavour and a me-time experience, and maybe that’s why I could not relate to the idea of collaborative art in a communal space. However, we decided to give our contribution in the room upstairs, where we made our own drawing on Anna Brownsted’s Drawing Machine.

Tired but happy, we sipped our tea in the café, chatting the afternoon away, before heading back to the station in our fully electric blue bus. 

We love our art adventures. They enrich our souls and our friendship.

Art Gallery Crawl in Mayfair, 18 November

Last Saturday, the underlying theme of the Contemporary Art and Culture Explorers' Art Gallery Crawl in Mayfair was the human body in very different declinations.

Our small but mighty group of explorers started the tour from the Thaddaeus Ropac gallery, which occupies a five-floor mansion in Mayfair that was the former London residence of the Bishop of Ely, where we also had the chance to see one of Georg Baselitz's bronze sculptures and a wonderful Anselm Kiefer.

But the purpose of our visit was Daniel Richter’s new series of paintings, Stupor. The German artist began his career designing posters and record sleeves for bands.

His bold and vibrant reds and oranges in the background contribute to the tridimensionality of the paintings. "Red is a colour you cannot ignore", said Richter, and rightly so.

We loved his dynamic mark-making, which reminded some of us of graffiti, and his very distinctive linework. Between figuration and abstraction, his artworks make an impact. We loved them.

Then, we visited the Marlborough gallery to see Symphony of Storms, an exhibition of new work by Deanio X. This body of work was created over the past 10 months following the artist’s residency in Jamaica. The titles say it all, from “hurricane” to “riptide” to “wildfire”. Figures slowly emerge from a chaotic background, maybe a seascape, an intriguing layered technique. 

 Upstairs, Alexander James' (b. 1993) paintings were inspired by his great-grandfather's candy shop, starting from family letters and photographs, found memorabilia, and passed-on memories. Again, merging elements of portraiture and abstraction. “Can abstraction ever be detached from lived experience?"

We decided to detour towards the White Cube to see the calming, organic forms of abstract flowers, fishes, or body parts?, painted by Christine Ay Tjoe. Finally, we managed to have a well-deserved seat and a friendly chat.

Reenergised by the break, we visited our last gallery of the day, David Zwirner, to see the meditative paintings of the Chinese artist Liu Ye. “The exploration of human emotions has always been the subject of my interest. I have painted people or things that I love”. Delicate and (to me) frustrated female figures, Miffy the bunny, and a cup of coffee painted in an intriguing perspective.

Such an inspiring afternoon! I would not have traded it for Winter Wonderland.

Sculpture Time!

The first event of the Contemporary Art and Culture Explorers could not have started better.

The golden browns and orangey reds in the park surrounding the Serpentine South Gallery were stunning on Sunday afternoon. 

We visited the exhibition Georg Baselitz Sculptures 2011-2015. Baselitz was born in Germany in 1938 and is one of the most influential contemporary artists of his generation.

"Sculpture is a thing that also blind people can see", he said. His art explores the tension between abstract and representation. The artworks on show were not intended for public view, but as models for bronze works. 

We found it extremely interesting to see the drawings and the preparatory work. It is like being in the artist mind. We chose our favourite artwork in the exhibition.

We also agreed that his works feel universal, and discussed how the curatorial display can change our perception of the artworks. One hanging sculpture looked so different from a similar one but lying on the floor.

The bronze sculpture outside the gallery made it all real. It was a great way to connect the dots, and we could not resist going closer despite the muddy grass around it.

Chatting about art, ballet and the joys of travelling, we walked to the nearby Victoria & Albert Museum to see Thomas J. Price's artworks. Price is a much younger artist, born in London in 1981, and we agreed about the quality of his works.

Price wants us to reflect on how we look at sculpture in a public space, and he depicts everyday people, black men and women. This display, in the Sculpture Rooms and the Courtyard, sets Price’s work in dialogue with the V&A's historic collections. It sparked a stimulating discussion about the curatorial choice to put contemporary works close to Canova’s Three Graces and classical statues, and also about representation, colonialism, and reparation. Do we feel represented by the sculptures in the room? 

We also had time to visit the contemporary glass room to admire a concrete and glass sculpture by the Scottish artist Harry Morgan and a colourful orange and blue work by American artist Dale Chihuly.

Finally, we agreed that you do not need to like all the artworks or all the exhibitions that you see. Sometimes it's good, if you don't! That may also be the intention of the artist. Thought-provoking art is what most of us like.