Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Yesterday I popped along for a mooch around Wolverhampton Art Gallery. I always enjoy the exhibitions there, there are so many interesting things to see and they are always very varied. 

 Martin Parr - "Black Country Stories"

 David Bethell - "Dr Bird Conquering Clouds" 

 Yara El-Sherbini - "The End of Series" 
"The End of the World"
"The End of Empire"
"The End of Agreements"
"The End of the Adventures of TinTin in the land of Black Gold"

Yara El-Sherbini - "The Current Situation" 

Birmingham Art Gallery

Yesterday we popped along to Birmingham to meet a lovely friend for a day of art, tea, cake and good company! We spent most of the day in the Birmingham Art Gallery, greeted by the Antony Gormley statue "Iron Man", and the excitement at finding that the special exhibition was "Love is Enough - Andy Warhol and William Morris". 

 I wasn't sure about the combination of the two artists, but the links were surprising and varied, it was a really very thought-provoking and inspiring exhibition, and the William Morris drawings in particular left me feeling excited to get back into my sketchbook!

William Morris 'Tulip and Willow' 1873 (pencil and watercolour sketch for print design)

Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol, tapestry, 1968

Credit line: The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. The Collection of Marla and Larry Wasser, Toronto, Canada. © 2015 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York and DACS, London. Image: Maciek Linowski.

This installation in the skylight was amazing, really beautiful. I didn't manage to find out who made it, but it really took my breath away! 

Tate Liverpool...Part Two

I carried on my mooch around Tate Liverpool in the Leonora Carrington exhibition. It was my second visit, but this time I had a really good look around...

 Evening Conference, 1949.  © Estate of Leonora Carrington

"I, as the whole world, yearn for an individual identity. I would like to find it because on finding it, like the truth, it changes and shifts. We only need to sleep to convert ourselves into different personalities" Leonora Carrington 

And Then They Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur, 1954 

© Estate ofLeonora Carrington/Artists Rights Society (ARS)

I loved her work, mostly for the experimentation with materials and techniques, and the amazing colours. I picked up the novelisation of her life in the shop on my way out, it's called "Leonora" by Elena Poniatowska and I am excited to read it! 

Wandering through I found myself in the huge room of Cathy Wilkes installations. The change from bright colours and busy paintings full of immense detail to this stark collection of figures was quite startling! I must confess that I hadn't made the connection to the installation I had seen as part of the Turner Prize in 2008, this work is really very different, and I found this much more thought-provoking. 

Cathy Wilkes Untitled 2013 

Installation view ‘The Encyclopaedic Palace’, Venice Biennale, Venice, 2013

Courtesy of The Artist and The Modern Institute/Toby Webster Ltd, Glasgow (borrowed from the Tate website) 

Cathy Wilkes Untitled 2013

"The Encyclopaedic Palace", Venice Biennale, Venice, 2013 

(borrowed from Trend Tablet)

There was so much happening in this room, so much to see and take in, I was pleased to have a closer look. These figures had something nomadic about them, their clothes somewhat tatty and dishevelled, they were soulful and so human, with their collections of broken ceramics and bits of lace and embroidery. I really found them so endearing, they seemed lost but at the same time, content. I don't really know, it was appealing but also unsettling. It's a hard feeling to describe, and the things I've read seem non-specific on the meaning of the work, so all I have to go on is my reaction to what I saw, I picked up the exhibition guide so maybe I'll find out more there. There are photographs from the exhibition on The Modern Institute website, they are beautiful. 

So that was my Tate Liverpool adventure - and what a lovely adventure it was!

A Visit to Ruthin

I love to visit quaint little towns, and one of my favourites is Ruthin in North Wales. It's an old town, with a castle and a gaol, and lots of lovely shops, but my first stop is always the Craft Centre. It's an Applied Arts gallery, full of beautiful objects and exhibitions from a variety of disciplines, and is always very inspiring.

The special exhibition was "As William Morris Said..." inspired by the quote -

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." William Morris

I particularly liked the ceramics by Derek Wilson, in tones of grey and white, with some lovely yellows. I think personally I am drawn more to colours and patterns than the more utilitarian, minimalistic work in this exhibition, but it was interesting nonetheless. 

As well as the main exhibition, there is a Willow installation that fills the entire of Gallery 2, called "Inundation". It really is amazing, such a massive expanse and filling so much space, but still so open and airy.

The town itself is lovely too, and I always enjoy pottering around the charity shops, antique centre and the yarn shop, where I gave into temptation and bought three skeins of beautiful sock yarn. And of course there was cake, because it seemed rude not to...