Review: Georgia O'Keeffe (EXHIBITION)

A retrospective of one of the most famous female painters of the 20th century is currently on at the Tate Modern in London until 30th October. The main attraction for me to see this exhibition was having studied O'Keeffe's floral works. Which is all I knew her for: her florals. (Probably similarly to the rest of the world.) But, she is so much more than that, and her body of work encompasses many more themes than her famed floral close-ups.

The exhibition is thematically displayed in a very logical easy to digest way (which is what you'd expect from any Tate exhibition.) We are guided through O'Keeffe's back catalogue, starting from her earliest charcoal pieces, to more personal displays about her life, Stieglitz and their inner circle, to her New York cityscapes and of course, to her flowers and still lifes. 

I enjoyed weavingmy way through the rooms and seeing works I didn't know existed. I also really enjoyed seeing O'Keeffe's work that I was more familiar with. (There's nothing quite like experiencing artworks in real life that you've seen time and time again in books or online.)

The stand out work for me is 'Special No.9 - 1915' (see image above). Reproductions (as ever) don't do it justice. It is something you've got to see in person. O'Keeffe's mark making and feeling in this piece is just something I find very difficult to put into words.

I only have one reservation about this exhibition: the price. It is too expensive. It is far too much money. For a student ticket it costs £15.40, for an adult (with no additional donation) it costs £17.20. And that is a lot of money. A lot. I assume (and we all know what you say when you assume) that the money recovered from the cost of tickets will go towards covering the exhibition, any additional staff costs, and (probably) any profit will just be pumped back into Tate Modern and its permanent collection, as all of that is, spectacularly free. But still, when it comes individually to coughing up this money, it is a lot. And it's a shame, because the hefty price tag makes it an exhibition you will not take a gamble on. Only those who know O'Keeffe, will go to see O'Keeffe. It alienates a whole untapped audience. 

And because of the price tag, I would only really go to this exhibition if you like O'Keeffe, or want to see the range of her work.

Review: In the Age of Giorgione (EXHIBITION)

Just a quickie here. In the Age of Giorgione at the Royal Academy. On until 5th June. It is what you'd expect from what I'll bluntly call an 'old painting exhibition'. To put it bluntly again, I wouldn't have paid for it (I have a membership card, normally costs £10 without donation) but it was enjoyable. (But perhaps because it was fun adding stories to sassily painted faces and fancy bouffant hairstyles.)

Not sure I'd recommend (but mainly because of my personal tastes) but if some serious art history is your thing then you'll enjoy this. If not, maybe give it a miss.

The Glasgow International Chronicles: Part I

This glorious visual arts festival occupies the entirety of the city, populating established art institutions to much smaller independent spaces. This is the seventh iteration of the festival that is open from 8th - 25th April 2016.

I was unable to spend as much time as I would have wished to properly devour and get a full taste of this contemporary art extravaganza. I think you need to devote at least a full day (if not two).

First I want to begin with the things I wish I had had chance to see, so that if you are going, you can see them for me: (If not you can just google them and look, and lament alongside me.)

• Clara Ursitti - New Work. In various locations around the city until 23rd April 2016. She will be releasing different smells within the streets of Glasgow.
• Birthe Jorgensen and Tawona Sithole - Bitter-Rose. On until 24th April 2016. This is a nomadic installation that moves thorough the city by foot. The show functions as an impromptu platform for discussion.
• Nicolas Party - Mezzotint. Until 29th May. These prints and paintings begin with familiar objects and exaggerates their presence. Something that seemed worth a peek. 

But what did I actually go and see? I was fortunate enough to pack a variety of sights into my very short stay including exhibits and a play (sort of) at the following places:

• The Citizen Theatre
• Centre for Contemporary Arts
• The Common Guild

Each place and artwork on display deserves its own post, so that is what shall be happening!

However, I do have space to mention the two smaller independent spaces I went to during my time in Glasgow. Both exhibitions. And both specifically on for the tight duration of the 18 days of the festival.

• What? Concrete That Makes Us (Exhibition)
• Who? André Komatsu
• Where? Civic Room, Glasgow
• When? Until Tuesday 26th April. Closed Mondays. Open from 12pm - 5pm.

I went there for one reason and one reason only. The tantalising photograph in your free Glasgow International guide that is available throughout the city.

(That and this is its first showing publicly since its exhibition in São Paulo in 2008. I'm a sucker for anything limited.)

The piece in question I want to focus on is called: Disseminação Concreta, made in 2006 out of gravel and clothes.

Having almost no context to base my thoughts on this piece, it just came from a gut reaction. Which in my eyes suits what it is you are seeing. Essentially, it is a stone person. Clothes and shoes have been placed and stuffed to resemble perhaps the most familiar shape recognisable to us: a human. The construction of the space means that as you circle the piece you are looking over what feels like a dead human being. It's a strange feeling as your brain understands that this is made of rocks, not flesh, but it's disconcerting silhouette says something else. It becomes unnerving, and yet at the same time peaceful. I wish I had had more time to stare but I had to scoot out. For fear of being late. (I was late.)

Last but not least:

• What? The Vegetable Store (Exhibition)
• Who? Erica Eyres and Garnet McMulloch
• Where? Fireworks Studio
• When? Until Monday 25th April. Open daily, Mon - Sat, 11am - 5.30pm and Sun, 12pm - 5pm.

This little display at Fireworks Studio was manned by a man and a dog when I appeared. News on the grape vine is that many fruits and vegetables had to be bought as subjects for these clay creations. The collection has fruits and vegetables in perfect aesthetic condition, with other produce appearing mouldy and last their sell-by date. (Garnished with little flies to boot.)

In all, I would recommend a visit to both of these exhibits in the programme. I would advise picking a few of them to make a crawl out of it.

Stay tuned for the remaining parts to this excellently titled series.

Review: Painting the Modern Garden (EXHIBITION)

It was a dreary morning when my mother and I rocked up to the Royal Academy (RA) with the hopes of seeing the new Impressionist exhibition tag lined 'Monet to Matisse' (something I have a slight problem with, but something I understand.) I'll place my note of warning here: book your tickets in advance. As we approached the building there was a queue. Now this wasn't necessarily a massive queue, but when the gallery is only releasing approx. 10 tickets per 30 mins and this means (as we had been informed) you would be facing a 2+  hour wait to get in, the length of the queue suddenly seems to triple in size. As we were on a tight schedule there was only one way around this problem: become a friend of the RA. Now the only reason we were (really) able to consider this is because I am a 16 - 25 year old human being. You can become a friend of the RA for £45 for the year (now upped to £50 - if in the age bracket.) What does this include? Immediate priority to you and a guest to the exhibition (any exhibition during that year, on multiple occasions if you choose.) If you sign up 'in-store' (as it were) you get a free tote bag, containing a copy of the quarterly magazine that you are now in receipt of (approx. £5 an issue.) You also get 10% off in the shop and something else to do with their cafes that I don't remember. In any case it worked out well for us as we were there for 1 day only and a single ticket to this exhibition is an eye-watering £17 (£10 if a student, but sadly not all of us fit this bracket anymore.) So, for time and monetary value it worked out well. (Also gives me an excuse to go and see this year's Summer Show to use my shiny new card.)

Now. Numbers and practicalities aside. (It is worth noting, that booking beforehand for this exhibition is highly recommended. This is something I seemed to have missed before.) The actual part that we are here to discuss: the exhibition itself.

I'll be quite honest. I wasn't expecting to like this show as much as I did. The exhibition brings together two very popular things (for a certain age group) together. Gardens and Impressionism. With the risk of sounding punny, this exhibition felt like a breath of fresh air - not in that it was showing us anything new, but that these paintings, with their glorious colour combinations, brought the outside in. Despite the drizzle outside, I could feel the sunshine inside. These paintings and artists so perfectly capture the beauty of nature and reiterate the importance of our green spaces. (Way to be relevant Leonardo Dicaprio.) 

These artworks give you the gift of seeing them twice. Once up close: the other far away. As Cher from Clueless so perfectly puts it 'she's a full-on Monet' a mess close up but alright from far away. As you look as close as the little rope will let you, you can gage a range of colours, placed with impassioned gestures that, from a distance, create beautiful blushing flora in colours that cannot be captured in reproductions. (I had to swallow my disappointment - firstly in the gift shop's postcard selection, but then in their poor imitation of such beautiful colour combinations. If Impressionists knew anything, it was their colour combinations.)

In terms of enjoying this particular exhibition (as let's be honest, you can see a variety of these types of paintings in different free institutions (the National Gallery being a fine example)) the atmosphere created really held true as negating the rooms. What I mean by this, is that despite being sold out and rather crowded, there was a lovely sense of calm that I feel only nature can bring. Placing the subject matter aside what the curators of the space ever so cleverly did was to avoid the white cube. There were no white walls in sight. None. Each room had been perfectly matched to colours that evoked a calming energy, but perhaps most importantly, complimented the paintings on display. Various shades of greens, blues and browns really displayed these pieces in their best light. To have placed them in a white cube would have gone against the purpose of the artwork. Aesthetically, it would have washed out the vibrant colours making something so natural and friendly feel too clinical and harsh. It somehow would have changed their meaning completely.

Something else that this exhibition did that I've not really seen successfully done before is integrate two rooms on the exhibition route that didn't house any Impressionist paintings. One contained letters from the artists, botanical books that were inspirations, as well as a collection of Japanese prints that belonged to Monet. The layout of this room was intelligent as its main structure to house these documents was a mini green house that framed the room by being placed in the corners. The green house structure also stood as a centre piece to the room. (Each glass container holding what I guess to be plastic plants.) 

The other unusual room that offered the viewer a break was a room with photographs of each of the artists in their garden, along with a showreel with them in action. 

Another structural decision that worked really well was a room within a room. They had added a second bunch of walls inside one of the galleries, to add extra wall space to show more paintings. What I particularly enjoyed was that the outer walls were blue, and the inside structure was green. (To me this symbolises the water lily - something that inspired one of the most famous sons of Impressionism. *cough*Monet*cough*)

The final, and perhaps most important reason that sets this exhibition away from the rest is the end room. They saved the best until last. (And even use the most daring colour for the walls. (Deal teal.))

Agapanthus Triptych by Claude Monet (1916 - 1919)

(Small snippet of it below.)

This is a three piece painting that I've never seen the likes of before. The colours! The shapes! The three pieces reunited! This is the first time in over 60 years that these painting have been back together in Europe. In the 1950s Monet's family sold them, and the triptych was split up and sent to 3 separate institutions across the breadth of America. In my eyes it is a terrible pity. Almost to the point of destroying the work. (In fact, it does.) It's like separating twins at birth. 

These pieces are meant to be seen together. They are three thirds of a whole. Getting to see these in this exhibition is no doubt a once in a lifetime opportunity (unless you decide to visit multiple times.) There is something wistful about this work, something tranquil. It echoes stillness and contemplation. It really was worth the entire show.   

Below I've listed my other favourites. artists who I had not heard of before (who probably get passed over the more famous names (like Matisse. And although I do love him, he only had a small handful of paintings in this show that paled to others in comparison - hence my problem with the marketing.))

If you get a chance to go, keep an eye out for these. And if not - do Google them!

• Frederic Bazille - Les Lauriers Roses (1867)
• Gustave Caillebotte - Dahlias: the Gardens at Petit Gennevilliers (1893)
• Gustave Caillebotte - Nasturtiums (1892)
• Laurits Tuxen - Roses PS Kroyer (1893)
• Laurits Tuxen - Rhododendron in Tuxen's Garden (1917)
• Emil Nolde - Large Poppies (1908)
• Kandinsky - Murano Garden II (1910)

This exhibition is open until 20th April 2016. If you can go, see it. If you do, remember, book in advance!