It was my first time walking there, and though I had no idea where it was exactly, I had a sense it was behind a church. The walk was a bit longer than I thought, I almost hopped on a bus to Victoria instead, but thought the walking would do me good. It's been way colder than I had expected; yesterday I brought my shearling hat with me, it helped a lot.
The destination was the Saatchi Gallery, which was nearby the Sloan Square tube station. The gallery moved from the south bank to this new location, which is very fancy, very high end, with nice shops and restaurants and people that looked like they were from the Upper East Side. I immediately got lost in this neighborhood, failing to look at the map at the station before walking out. Eventually I found a bus stop with a map and realized where I had to go, which was the complete opposite direction I was headed. The building faced a park where a school teacher instructed uniformed girls, I could see them from afar. The day was overcast and the picture did not show everything but still managed some drama.
The building itself seemed very large from the outside, almost palace-like, but inside it felt much smaller (even though the galleries were large and evenly lit). There was a strange disconnect between the exterior (old Britain) and the interior (Chelsea in NYC), and I wonder if things got destroyed or covered during the remodel. I guess I was hoping for something more like São Paulo's Pinacoteca, which managed to combine both styles (maybe it was because that institution was on my mind, having been a co-sponsored for the Mira Schendel at the TM, funded by Banco Itaư). There were approximately 15 galleries on three or four floors, all numbered and easy to find. All galleries showed "new" British artists, and on the wall in the back of the main floor there were photos and bios of the artists shown (most here seemed to be London-based, and all were born after 1975; on subsequent floors their bases seemed to include New York City, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, and they went as far as being born in the late 60s). There were quite a few good pieces, some pictures with minimal captions below.
Henry Taylor
"What Can I Say?"
2011
Acrylic on canvas, 197 x 241 cm
At this point I noticed my iPhone camera has a problem, what looks like a finger-print or stain (towards the center bottom part of the frame, on wall and floor below painting). Funny enough this did not show on the video camera setting, and I could not clean if up either. Must be a sign I need a new camera/phone.
Eddie Martinez
"The Feast"
2010
Mixed media on canvas (triptych), 243.8 x 853.4 cm
Helen Verhoeven
"Event Two"
2008
Acrylic on canvas, 208.5 x 418 cm
In the film/video room, the work "In Ictu Oculi" by Greta Alfaro (from 2009, a single-channel HDvideo, 10:35 minutes), played on a flat screen TV in a darkened room, which I found very odd (I believe this film/video room has no proper lighting, being very small and intimate). I would have loved to have seen this piece in a gallery with other pieces, though the audio might have gotten lost. This piece reminded me of a piece I saw years ago, in Chicago I believe, with my parents, at the MCA. That video showed a somewhat mundane office through a stationary camera. A few minutes in a very large pelican is thrown into the room and begins to make a mess out of it, mostly in its attempt to stead itself on the piles of papers and other office objects. The effect was both funny and unsettling, and the feeling of it being a breathing picture came across very well (flat screens have a great way of making videos look like living paintings). This piece was more self-conscious; it displayed a formal dining room table set, with a pinkish table cloth and fancy service ware in nature, on a sunny day, with a beautiful mountain range in the background. For a while the wind made the table cloth move (it also made the camera move a bit too). Because of the constancy of the image it was very easy to pick minor changes, so when the first vulture shadow flew over the framed image, it foreshadowed what was to come in a nice way (one could hear them but not see them for a bit). Eventually one large vulture descend and begins exploring the surroundings. In a few minutes dozens of them surround the area and begin eating what was in service (which turns out to be raw meat, a rib rack visible at one point). Their tenacity and aggression was very unsettling, and yet their plumage looked extremely beautiful under the sun light (funny enough they really sounded like chickens). I captured some video along with stills, if I can uploaded them through this app you will see it below.
I continued through the top floor and saw some stuff that looked more like the usual British art, which is both funny and witty and weird (though I am not sure if they were all UK-based, no one seems to live where they are from anymore anyway, but artists move to specific cities). Maybe this image I have of Young Brit Art has still to do with the Sensation show, some things do persist. Below some of the eye-catching pieces.
Wendy Mayer
"After Louise", "Fly Away Peter", and "Gold Watch"
2011, 2011, and 2012
Paper-mâché, wax, acrylic, eyes, mixed media
dimensions varied (they were small though, a bit above knee high)
Amir Chasson
"Three Dimensional Topo Using Contor Lines", "Duncan's Stimulus", "Hand-Drawn Topo Map", "Pie Chart", "Green GT", "Filled Surface", "Special Purpose Pictorial Graph", "No Other", and "Mat is Helping Us"
All 2009-2010
Oil and household paint on canvas
dimensions varied
Alejandro Guijarro
"Stanford I"
2012
C-type print
117 x 240 cm
This series was truly impressive in its economy and presentation (shown to what appeared to be in scale, I actually thought they were black boards, it seems he photographed around many universities' science classrooms and other science institutions around the UK, Europe and the US). Another piece that was both enjoyable and funny was Andra Ursuta's "Vandal Lust" from 2011, shown below. This work could be seen from different viewing areas (a mezzanine and the actual gallery floor), and it implied its kinetic-ability though the damage placed on the wall. Up close the materials appeared way more mundane and fragile (carboard, recycled stuff), thus contradicting the implied force of the catapult.
Two small scale figurine pieces that made me laugh out loud in joy and surprise, because they were so odd and yet had such a nod to Victorian England.
Francis Upritchard
"The Misanthrope"
2011
Modeling material, foil, wire, acrylic paint, silk, wood, polyester padding, nylon, costume jewelry, found table.
Figure: 59 x 24 x 30 cm, table: 80 x 80 x 53 cm
Kasper Kovitz
"Carnalitos (Unamuno)"
2010
Iberico ham and concrete
50 x 29 x 29 cm
I ended my couple hours at the Saatchi at the lower level, where the print shop was located. I did not take any pictures, but they had some Chapman Brothers prints titled "Exquisite Corpse" that went for 960 pounds each, that were just beautiful. I almost bought one for myself, but thought it would be a hassle to bring it back to the US. But they were truly magical. It was actually a nice thing that they have that room that, because even though some of the stuff is expensive (like the 5,000 Hirst prints) for the average buyer, they did have some more affordable stuff (in the 200 range), and to me it opened up art to a potentially young or new set of collectors, which I find to be more accepting in European middle class than in America (where people will spend as much if not more for a store-bought poster). The last room I went to was a site-specific installation by Richard Wilson, who was born in 1953. It was by far the most impressive work in the building, perhaps because with it came some experience and finesse. At first it appeared that the ceiling had been reproduced on the floor of the gallery, albeit in a darker shade. I then noticed a line that divided and imagined that maybe a black gauzy fabric had been stretched over the entire thing, creating a perimeter that divided the gallery into two horizontally stacked parts. The viewing area (you saw "20:50" from above), was packed with kids, and once they cleared out I could see it better, and it was then that nothing made sense, as the step-down peninsula did not go anywhere, it appeared to be a flat line and not something that could hold a person (the volume below its edge disappeared into the reproduced ceiling on the floor as I imagined the piece to be). It was then I realized the whole room was filled with oil to that peninsula brim, and what we saw was the ceiling reflected onto the dark slick surface. This is why I often like to read the labels after I see the piece, so that I can have my unadulterated experience with it, and then transpose the artist's intention onto it.
I ended u leaving the Saatchi after that, and even though it was relatively early (around 3 pm). It was still freezing, and I did not know what to do. I was going to eat lunch at Sloan Square but all the places seemed too fancy (even though I could afford them). My plan was to look at m guide book in the restaurant, but once I nixed that idea, I decided to hop on the tube and figure something from there. I ended up heading to Earls Court to see my old stomping grounds, but I hopped on the Circle line instead of the District, so I got off South Kensington and waited for the next train. The more I thought the more I realized there was nothing waiting for me in Earl's Court (it had been over 15 years since I lived there), at best some cheap Chinese restaurant. It was then that I looked to the right and saw a sign that read "to Museums", and I knew I had found my next stop. I ended up going to the Victoria and Albert Museum, a truly majestic place.
The place was huge, but I was glad to be able to drop off my coat and walk around a bit, I walked towards the 80s fashion exhibition and looked at the costumes in the vitrine. I've seen so many fashion shows in these encyclopedic museums lately that by the time I got to the entrance the cover charge did not seem to be worth the experience. I then tested the wifi situation and sat down for a bit to post pictures only, check email, and rest.
Eventually I made my way to the second floor to see an exhibition titled "Tomorrow" by Elmgreen&Dragset. This piece turned out to be a five part installation fashioned as an apartment, where viewers were encouraged to peruse the many rooms, such as the vestibule, living and dining room (the table was cracked in the middle, an acrylic black table with a laser cut), then into a hallway, through a kitchen and studio and finally a bedroom. This was one of the most fascinating experiences I have ever had (in the darkened bedroom there was a bearded young man wearing a suit who seemed to only speak French as part of the piece). By the time I left the V&A I realized that the construction outside the museum, which advertised new upscale condos in the area (there were scaffolding covered with ads for such venture right by the entrance of the museum, from the tube station one had to walk through it), were actually a part of the building, which made the whole thing gain yet another dimension. Unfortunately photography was not allowed, but there is a site that goes with the piece that might provide some extra information.
www.vam.ac.uk/tomorrow
[the link has a wealth of information]
Before I left I walked through the classical sculpture section, which I always find so beautiful, and had a chance encounter with an unexpectedly extremely erotic Theseus and Minotaur sculpture. I wonder if others saw it as I saw, because among the so many similar pieces it was so masked.
By then it seemed the museum was getting ready to close (it was past 5:30), so I headed out back home, and stopped at the chip shop on my way "home" for a late lunch/early dinner (the lady in the counter gave me a scroll chinese year calendar, which I thought was sweet). I had a quiet night, found my lost blogue and published it (though I forgot to fix the typos and forewent the placement of the pics), made some contacts for today, headed early to bed (around 10 pm). I woke back up around midnight, the neighbor was being noisy, and did not get back to sleep for yet another couple hours, and finally slept until almost 8 am. I am still tired but have little ambition as far as what I want to accomplish today, just a couple stops before dinner with an old friend.
- posted via iPad
Location:Halsmere Road,Lambeth,United Kingdom
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