(Modern) Art Makes Me Want To Rock Out

Since I quit my job in April I've actually had a chance to go and do things, and by a quirk of fate some of my favourite artists have had retrospectives in London since then. So here is a quick look at the exhibitions I've been to in the last couple of months.

Lichtenstein: A Retrospective @ Tate Modern
Roy Lichtenstein is one of the first artists I can recall liking, infact at secondary school when we were asked to copy a famous painting I chose 'Whaam!' and I remember being pretty pleased with the outcome.

The exhibition was well arranged into periods & subjects, showing how he developed his style aswell as the objects of his art. From the early comic book frame representations to later more abstract pieces, from the most familiar & famous to the more obscure that I hadn't seen before which became some of my favourite works in the whole show such as the mirror series, seascapes and japanese landscapes.

 Mirror #1

 

 Seascape

 

Landscape In Fog

 



His work is so stylised and perfect looking from a distance it was interesting to see Lichtenstein's work up close. You can see the colour going outside the lines, the paler than others dots, the brushstrokes. Which was inspiring for someone like me who tends to be very critical of my own work. We accidentally missed the room with his most famous comic depictions, so looped back at the end which worked out well as it meant 'Whaam' was the last picture I stood infront of and spent a long time taking in. This exhibition ended 27th May 2013.

Whaam!

David Bowie Is @ Victoria & Albert Museum
Whilst not strictly art per se I thought this was well worth including here, both Debra & I are big Bowie fans, especially Debra. Normally I'm not one for the audio tour handsets (in art exhibitions people spend more time looking at them than the actual art) but in this case they were compulsory and really added to the experience, playing Bowie's music as well as interviews and other related clips. Comprehensive would be an understatement in relation to this show, working through Bowie's career, inspirations, costumes and artifacts. Of course it helps that he is a very visual musician, the highlight was probably the huge space near the end with live footage projected onto the walls and costumes around all the walls. A superb exhibit that I highly recommend to all music fans, the show is on until 11th August 2013.

Lowry & the Painting of Modern life @ Tate Britain
If Lichtenstein was one of the first artists I remember, then Lowry is the very first. And stood in front of 'Coming from the Mill' in the first room of the exhibition brings it all back, a print of the picture hung on the chimney breast of my parents house throughout my childhood and in sixth form college I wrote an essay about him.

Coming From The Mill

 



Debra did not come with me, she finds Lowry depressing, but I've always found his work endlessly fascinating, depicting as it does the minute of daily working class life. There is alot of repetition in his paintings but everyday life was and is repetitive. The figures that people seem to concentrate on reflect the ordinary people you see around you every day even today with the pace and stress of modern life. The chronology showed how Lowry's work began by depicting everyday street scenes before he moved onto showing how heavy industry was destroying the landscape, before then zooming out to view imagined cityscapes set against the countryside.

The Lake

Industrial Landscape

 

I found it very interesting to see some of his influences alongside his own work, from his mentor Adolphe Valette, to the french impressionists such as Monet & Pissarro to even Van Gogh. It was also fantastic to see some of his drawings for paintings, many of which are amazingly clean-lined and very different to how you would imagine. The only disappointments for me were the absence of his portrait work and the only recently uncovered drawings of fetishised women, which show an important different side to the man. This exhibition runs until 20th October 2013.

The Auction 

Patrick Caulfield @ Tate Britain
Caulfield is a British artist that I know little about other than one or two pictures that I have seen and liked alot. His paintings are highly stylised, cleanlined and boldly coloured usually in block colours with the use of collaged photography to striking effect. This show was much smaller than the Lowry show but well worth seeing especially on the combined ticket I had bought. As a graphic designer & illustrator myself I found his work especially interesting and the influence of his work on advertising is obvious. Exhibition ends 1st September.

After Lunch

 

Dining Recess