From the RCA to Egon

Today a little trip was had. A trip of worth. A trip of note. A trip worth noting. 

This unusual outing was to see the Work-in-Progress Show at the Royal College of Art School of Fine Art. (Primarily this was seen for purely selfish reasons - inspiration for my own end of year Degree Show.) Now, I'm stating here and now that it really is worth seeing. However, (hence the haste for this post) it's only on this weekend. (10am - 5.30pm) So if you're in the London area get yo'self to Battersea and sniff around those open studios! 

Still being in the studios, and with many of the students still milling around, it's a very casual format of a traditional gallery experience. And I think that, that's nice, because with that comfort comes the ability to experiment and take risks, and that's what some of the pieces on display did. There was one piece in particular (whose name I have no idea of unfortunately) made the most magical thing I've seen from pieces of cardboard and torches. It really proves that you don't need bucket loads of dollar (or the Tate) to make something quite extraordinary.

Now onto the Egon. 

This is my newly discovered Schiele. One of his sister. And although it said she is wearing a hat, I like to think that she has very triangular hair. (But this is all besides the point.)

This is something that is ending very quickly. Tomorrow to be exact. It would help if I mentioned what this was about really wouldn't it? I'm talking about the exhibition currently being held at the Courtauld which ends tomorrow. (It costs £7.50 excluding the £1 donation for adults, or £3 for a student. Which for now is a category I fall in to.) 

Now, as I approached the gallery to join a queue which I was not inspecting, I was wondering whether or not this would be worth it. Particularly when the lady approached me to inform me that the next available slot to purchase tickets, were for 6.30pm. (It was roughly around 2pm as I stood in the queue.) And I wondered is it really worth the hype? It felt that as though because everyone was rushing to buy these tickets, and because they were selling out fast, that you had to go to see it. Simply because everyone else was, rather than the substance of the actual exhibition. Which is a feeling I hate. But it must have worked, because I bought a ticket, and busied myself until I could go to see some works about an artist I didn't particularly know much about.

And I'm very glad I did.

Mostly, when visiting exhibitions similar to this, that exhibit a very famous artist, I wonder why are they so popular? Why this artist? And it's very rare, that I'm in an exhibition, looking at a work, and feel as though I can see the genius that everyone talks about. But it happened this time. Throughout the exhibition, but especially with the image above. This small, pixelated copy does no justice to his mark making, his colour choices, or the shapes he conjures out of the simplest of lines. And maybe that's why I've never been terribly interested in Schiele before. Because in this format, you can't really see it. You're looking, but you can't see. 

And simply because of this revelation, (and the bonus of the cheap student ticket) I would go and see it if you can. It's not the largest exhibition, but it is one of the finest I have seen in a long time.