October Gallery Visit

See I am sticking with this. This month I had the chance to drag along someone who studies art and having a mobile reference book is really handy when you know very little about the subject. We met at Green Park, as that is where our tube lines meet, and while I was waiting I heard that the Royal Acadamy is really close to there. So that became our first port of call. When we arrived there was a choice of two exhibitions, but whilst I have read both the names I couldn't think what either did. This is one of the problems with not recalling names. So handy expert says, "paintings or sculpture?". It had to be sculpture given that the classes that really appealed to me were all about three dimensional quilts, so the first artist of the day was Rodin. Wow what a good choice for knowing nothing. Turns out I really like his work. He sculpted so many women in so many great poses. I think he has pretty much got the set. My 'I wish I could take it home' piece for today is Ovid's Metamorphoses. Sadly even if you find a picture of it online I don't think you will get to see what I most liked about it. It is a plaster of two female nudes embracing. From the back of the piece (how do they know it is the back?) you can see a woman kneeling with her back to you. The shape of her back if fantastic, but for me what makes it so amazing are her feet, just poking out from beneath her bottom. It is an image I really want to make as a quilt, I am sure I won't do such a good job, but the pose is so beautiful I might get away with it.

After lunch we had time for a second gallery so went back to plan A, the Hayward Gallery. They are currently showing, How to Improve the World - 60 Years of British Art. Oh and Mondays is half price, if you feel like going. This was a huge contrast to the Rodin, I am finding it hard to get to grips with how diverse art is, especially when quilting isn't. I really don't understand how Bridget Riley's Movement in Squares is art yet very similar things in fabric aren't. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe I need to try and find a way to get the Arts Council interested in my work to help the cause. (Sounds impossible but that has never stopped me before). Most of the works here left me cold but as ever there were exceptions. They had two pieces on display by Barbara Hepworth, both of which I liked very much. I love the organic smoothness of her work, they seem very calm and soothing. I was pleased to see two BMW engines being used for something useful, covered in copper sulphate crystals by Roger Hiorns. When I first looked up the Hayward Gallery online I got a picture of Tim Head's State of the Art. I quite liked it online but in person it is really cool. I loved trying to spot things I had owned in the 1980's just fantastic. I would have happily had a poster of it had they had one for sale. Interestingly there was on that I don't think I would have liked only a couple of months ago. It is Tony Cragg's New Stones, Newton's Tones. It is broken pieces of plastic objects laid out on the floor in colour groups. It is very much like 'Digital Rainbow'. I don't think it would have leapt out at me in the same what had I not done something similar. It was also interesting to note he had had the same problem with blue, indigo, violet. He seems to have tried for all three and to me that section read much less distinctly that the other stripes. I think I made the right decision for me when I left out indigo.

All in all it was a very informative day. I didn't really expect to get much from going to galleries, but I accepted that people felt I should know more about art. I am finding it very inspiring, and in some cases it reassures me that what I am planning is going to work. I would really recommend anyone going along and having a look. I won't say you will like everything you see, in fact I am sure you won't, but I do think it will give you a new perspective on art, and possibly the world in general.