I had a day out at Tate Modern today. The weather was very blustery, just the sort of British summer day I like, which made the sky look very dramatic. The Millennium Bridge which links St Paul's and the Tate is in the new Harry Potter film and is shown in trailers being attacked by Voldemort's forces. I didn't see any Death Eaters or Dementors, just tourists enjoying London, although maybe there were evil forces at work and I didn't see them as I am a Muggle.
Anyway, back to the serious art. I first went to see the Per Kirkeby exhibition. I'd not heard of him however I have Tate membership so will go and see nearly all their exhibitions so I'll get my monies worth. I'm often pleasantly surprised and will find a new artist I like. This happened with Per Kirkeby.
The first few rooms were abstract nonsense which I like to think I could paint, however moving further into the exhibition I was treated to huge canvasses of colour which are brilliant for imagining things in. One room was full of forest colours which reminded me of rainforest, outback gorges and birdwatching. I went to see the exhibition with my friend Claire, who has years of artistic training and qualifications under her hand crocheted belt. It was interesting to see how we saw different things in the paintings. I was spotting animals and shapes and Claire was picking out colour highlights and brushtrokes.
I must have Harry Potter on the brain at the moment as the painting reminded me of a scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It's hard to capture on the internet but see if you can work out which bit I mean. I'll give you a clue, the actual painting had more grey around the edges, as if set in a cave.
After a spot of lunch we went to the Futurism exhibiton. I might have to see this one again as there was lots to take in, including manifestos, war propaganda and a tiny angular drawing of a knitter. The British artist Wyndham Lewis stood out in the exhibition whose work still looks contemporary today.
The internet really doesn't do art justice so I'd recommend going to see these two exhibitions if you can. just watch out if you see odd looking people wearing robes and funny hats...
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