[ London art trip ]

3 - 4 -5 march 2020


tripping on art in London ~ day 1

St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus for Eurostar services from London to Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 0 @ Eurostar

A (my :-) room with a flabbergasting view @ CitizenM Tower of London hotel

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 1 @ CitizenM Tower of London

Tate Britain Tate Britain is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, having opened in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner, who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation. It is one of the largest museums in the country.

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 2 @ TATE BRITAIN. 

AUBREY BEARDSLEY 1872-1898 Exhibition until 25 may 2020 @ TATE BRITAIN Isolde ~ Printed 1899 ~ Colour lithograph and line block print on paper Turning again to Wagner for inspiration, Beardsley depicts the tragic heroine, Isolde, on the brink of drinking the fateful love potion. She stands against a stage curtain, bright red in the original design and equally bold in the orange used for this first printing. Beardsley asserted, 'I have no great care for colour, but [in posters] colour is essential. This design was published as a colour lithograph supplement in The Studio in October 1895. Victoria and Albert Museum

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 3.
        AUBREY BEARDSLEY @ Tate Britain. 

Henry Moore 18981986 Draped Seated Figure 1957-8 Bronze Draped Seated Figure was originally commissioned by the German city of Wuppertal. In 1962 the London County Council purchased a cast of the work for the Stifford Estate, Stepney as part of their drive to bring modern art to urban areas and to promote Britain's post-war social recovery. The maquette nearby is its model. The theme of the seated figure on steps originally related to a commission for UNESCO headquarters in Paris, for which Moore finally chose a reclining figure (a version of this is on display in the chronological circuit). The style of drapery on this sculpture was seen in Moore's Shelter Drawings (1940-1) and derived from such ancient Greek sculptures as the figures from the Parthenon at the British Museum.

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 4. HENRY MOORE @ Tate Britain. 

TATE BRITAIN. The home of Wiliam Turner. The Clore Gallery. Empy. only 5 works on display. Where is he???? This was the goal of our "tripping on art" midweek to London :-(

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 5. WILLIAM TURNER @ Tate Britain. 

WADDINGTON CUSTOD Gallery 4 march - 18 april 2020 BARRY FLANAGAN ALCHEMY OF THE THEATRE Presenting acclaimed and playfully mischievous bronzes by Barry Flanagan (1941-2009). Alchemy of the Theatre explores the theatrical elements of Flanagan's sculptures, beginning with their dramatic conception from molten bronze in the furnaces of the foundry. Taking an exuberant, irreverent, and often humorous approach to his subjects, Flanagan injected a palpable new energy to bronze, subverting a medium steeped in tradition. At the heart of the exhibition are Flanagan's well-loved hares, which captured in various poses of dynamic movement, reflect the vast depth and breadth of the human condition. The works brought together here provide a means to explore a full spectrum of emotion and human experience: from delight to boredom, melancholia to pure, unbridled joy. Complementing Flanagan's signature works, the exhibition looks beyond bronze, to include experimental drawings, collages and dynamic stone sculptures, providing a broader survey of the artist's practice. Alchemy of the Theatre commemorates forty years since Flanagan's first solo show at Waddington Custot, then Waddington Galleries, which took place in 1980.

tripping on art in London ~ day 1, act 6.
BARRY FLANAGAN @ WADDINGTON CUSTOD Gallery.

tripping on art in London ~ day 2

Kennedys 25 Fenchurch Ave, Langbourn, London EC3M 5AD, UK https://maps.app.goo.gl/S5ohBH62k1HMGYev5

tripping on art in London ~ day 2, act 1:
strolling through the TOWER neighbourhood.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) La Ghirlandata 1873 Oil on canvas No. 1059 Purchased, 1927

tripping on art in London ~ day 2, act 2:  GUILDHALL ART GALLERY

The Natural History Museum in London is a natural history museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Natural History Museum's main frontage, however, is on Cromwell Road. The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. The museum is a centre of research specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture—sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature—both exemplified by the large Diplodocus cast that dominated the vaulted central hall before it was replaced in 2017 with the skeleton of a blue whale hanging from the ceiling. The Natural History Museum Library contains extensive books, journals, manuscripts, and artwork collections linked to the work and research of the scientific departments; access to the library is by appointment only. The museum is recognised as the pre-eminent centre of natural history and research of related fields in the world.

tripping on art in London ~ day 2, act 3:  NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

The Exhibitionist Hotel 8-10 Queensberry Pl, South Kensington, London, UK. https://maps.app.goo.gl/GkfqVnxg8rwFgvu97

tripping on art in London ~ day 2, act 4: The Exhibitionist Hotel 

tripping on art in London ~ day 3

The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens: One of London's most ornate monuments. It commemorates the death of Prince Albert in 1861 of typhoid. The Albert Memorial is located in Kensington Gardens on Albert Memorial Road opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It is one of London's most ornate monuments, designed by George Gilbert Scott. Unveiled in 1872, The Albert Memorial commemorates the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, who died of typhoid fever at the age of 42. Influenced by the series of 13th Century Eleanor Crosses (Charing Cross perhaps being the most famous) and other statues in Edinburgh and Manchester, the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens is one of the grandest high-Victorian gothic extravaganzas anywhere. Officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, it celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and interests.

tripping on art in London ~ day 3, act 1. KENSINGTON GARDENS 

Simone Farresin of Studio Formafantasma (right) gives a 1 on 1 guided tour to arty-farty.fun 's Etienne Verbist (left) Exhibition Formafantasma: Cambio @ Serpentine Sackler Gallery 4 Mar 2020 to 17 May 2020 Formafantasma are an Italian design duo based in Amsterdam. Their work looks at design's ecological and political responsibilities, while probing the global industries that consume natural resources. Formafantasma (Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin) are designers who dissect the ecological and political responsibilities of their discipline. Their holistic approach reaches back into the history of a particular material used by humans, out towards the patterns of supply chains that have developed to support and expand its use, and forward to the future of that material’s survival in relation to human consumption. Cambio, from the medieval Latin cambium, ‘change, exchange’, is an ongoing investigation conducted by Formafantasma into the governance of the timber industry. The evolution of this form of commerce over time, and its tentacular expansion across the globe, has made it difficult to regulate. It grew out of the bioprospecting that took place throughout colonial territories during the nineteenth century, becoming one of the largest industries in the world both in terms of the revenue it generates and the impact it has on the planet’s biosphere. The earliest objects in the exhibition are samples of rare hardwoods first exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851, a few hundred metres from this building, which represent trees logged to the point of extinction. The newest are the exhibition display furniture and seating designed by Formafantasma, all of which were made from a single tree blown over in a storm in northern Italy in 2018. Contained in every piece of wood is an archive of climatic change and the movement of natural materials around the world. Cambio also references the cambial layer, a membrane that runs around the trunk of trees, producing wood on the inside, a record of the tree’s past, and bark on the outside, enabling it to keep growing. Like the rings of a tree, the central spaces of the exhibition present data and research in the form of interviews, reference materials and two films made by Formafantasma in response to their research, while the perimeter spaces offer a series of case studies that provide insight into the way wood is sourced and used. Each of these investigations represents a collaboration with experts from the fields of science, conservation, engineering, policymaking and philosophy. Together, they move from a microscopic analysis of wood and its ability to store carbon dioxide, to a metaphysical understanding of trees as living organisms. This multidisciplinary exhibition highlights the crucial role that design can play in our environment, and its responsibility to look beyond the edges of its borders. The future of design can and must attempt to translate emerging environmental awareness into a renewed understanding of the philosophy and politics of trees that will encourage informed, collaborative responses.

tripping on art in London ~ day 3, act 2: FORMAFANTASMA:CAMBIO @ Serpentine Sackler

Arty-Farty.fun's Etienne Verbist (L) meets Eli Castelli (R), author of the world's bestselling 'Art' book THERE IS NO F IN ART @ Chucs Cafe Serpentine

tripping on art in London ~ day 3, act 3. meet 'n greet with ELI CASTELLI 

Tracey Emin light sculpture "I Want My Time With You" at St Pancras International Station

tripping on art in London ~ day 3, final act