Tate exhibitions
I’ve been a member of the Tate for just over a fortnight now and have seen four of the paid exhibitions so far.
The first I saw was the Francis Bacon exhibition at Tate Britain - my initial reason for getting membership. I figured I would be going back there a few times and the cost of membership would be worth it.
Francis Bacon was one of the first modern artists I u8nderstood anything about back when I used to draw and paint - I remember thinking that I didn’t realise that people were allowed to make art in this way, it was very liberating and exciting. His painting of the death mask of William Blake was the one I first noticed ever.
I went to the exhibition with my friend Anya and her husband Jon (I got one of them in free as I paid for a Member + Guest card). After that we saw the Turner Prize exhibition which was a lot less interesting to me (I didn’t really see anything all that inspiring).
More recently I saw the Mark Rothko exhibition at Tate Modern and like I do with some art, walked out feeling vaguely cheated, bewildered and wondering if it’s just me that doesn’t get it.
Today’s lunchtime trip was a smashing antidote to that - the new exhibition in the Turbine Hall is breathtaking (and fun) but the best discovery was the recently opened (on Tuesday) exhibition by Cildo Meireles. Art being subjective and personal not everything is going to appeal to everyone (like Rothko in my case) but I really loved this exhibition. It’s a lot more participatory and I got a lot more from it . I don’t know if I learned any great truths from it but I walked out with a big grin on my face. Just great. Just this one was worth the membership, I’ll be going back again and again until it closes on the 11th (if only just to see how much the floor of broken glass (that you can walk on) degrades over time. I also want to run about in the room that’s almost knee deep in white powder but I wasn’t dressed for it today.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/francisbacon/default.shtm
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/turnerprize2008/default.shtm
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/markrothko/default.shtm
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/cildomeireles/default.shtm
The first I saw was the Francis Bacon exhibition at Tate Britain - my initial reason for getting membership. I figured I would be going back there a few times and the cost of membership would be worth it.
Francis Bacon was one of the first modern artists I u8nderstood anything about back when I used to draw and paint - I remember thinking that I didn’t realise that people were allowed to make art in this way, it was very liberating and exciting. His painting of the death mask of William Blake was the one I first noticed ever.
I went to the exhibition with my friend Anya and her husband Jon (I got one of them in free as I paid for a Member + Guest card). After that we saw the Turner Prize exhibition which was a lot less interesting to me (I didn’t really see anything all that inspiring).
More recently I saw the Mark Rothko exhibition at Tate Modern and like I do with some art, walked out feeling vaguely cheated, bewildered and wondering if it’s just me that doesn’t get it.
Today’s lunchtime trip was a smashing antidote to that - the new exhibition in the Turbine Hall is breathtaking (and fun) but the best discovery was the recently opened (on Tuesday) exhibition by Cildo Meireles. Art being subjective and personal not everything is going to appeal to everyone (like Rothko in my case) but I really loved this exhibition. It’s a lot more participatory and I got a lot more from it . I don’t know if I learned any great truths from it but I walked out with a big grin on my face. Just great. Just this one was worth the membership, I’ll be going back again and again until it closes on the 11th (if only just to see how much the floor of broken glass (that you can walk on) degrades over time. I also want to run about in the room that’s almost knee deep in white powder but I wasn’t dressed for it today.
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/francisbacon/default.shtm
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/turnerprize2008/default.shtm
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/markrothko/default.shtm
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/cildomeireles/default.shtm