UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => music, art and culture => Topic started by: mini on November 06, 2013, 08:21:30 pm
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Haven't seen a thread similar as yet, so I thought I'd pop one up for any exhibitions, displays, shows etc... going on.
Next week I'm off to see the black and white photographer Michael Kenna's (http://www.michaelkenna.net/index2.php) exhibition at The Brindley in Runcorn. Keen to see his work in real life rather than on a computer screen, especially as he doesn't exhibit often on the UK. The exhibition is currently running until the 23rd of this month for anyone interested.
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I had a whistlestop look at this show (the Michael Kenna) a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't heard of him; some very beautiful images that I don't think would translate well to screen at all due to immense subtlety. Highly recommended
Went to two incredible galleries last week, the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and the Met in New York (ahem!). The Barnes is a private collection, so much Renoir it might as well be wallpaper, much of it pretty ho-hum, but also several dozen Cezanne, many of them magnificent. Good for Picasso and Matisse too. The Met is obviously huge; with limited time I concentrated on the Dutch. I was in total Rembrandt heaven. Incredible.
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Completely off post..
I remember when the Orangerie in Paris reopened and I went to have a look (preferred it before). There are long corridors with a lot of Renoir, and I really don't understand the interest, then you see a Cezanne and Wow...
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Musee d'Orsay if you like Impressionists, rooms full of Renoir, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh etc. No Mike Yarwood sadly.
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I remember when the Orangerie in Paris reopened and I went to have a look (preferred it before). There are long corridors with a lot of Renoir, and I really don't understand the interest, then you see a Cezanne and Wow...
Similarly :off: - in fact so not "lately" that they've since completely re-built the museum - but the Museum of Modern Art in New York used to have a "blow their socks off right away" room at the entrance with, among other things, Guernica, a Monet Water Lilies and a huge Jackson Pollock.
Jackson Pollock's work in small pictures in books or on the internet just looks like silly random splodges, but seen close up and huge in the fleshcanvas for the first time there is a rhythm and power there that is quite astonishing.
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BP Portraits Winners at Aberdeen Art Gallery until Jan. Thts a lunchtime or two taken care of.
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Similarly :off: - in fact so not "lately" that they've since completely re-built the museum - but the Museum of Modern Art in New York used to have a "blow their socks off right away" room at the entrance with, among other things, Guernica, a Monet Water Lilies and a huge Jackson Pollock.
The Orangerie in Paris had (still does) a selection of Monet's water lillies displayed on curved walls (in fact if I remember correctly it was built for this purpose). When you've only ever seen postcards or small prints in books, the effect is mesmerising of seeing the real thing 6m by 3.
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Went to the preview of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibtion recently.
Top stuff as always, and interesting to chat to some of the togs. A couple of particularly stand out images, always good discussing if the winner should/shouldn't have won and of course the standard grumblings with the under 7's having £4k's worth of kit when you can't help thinking mum/dad set the shot up and they pressed the button.
Love it.
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Jackson Pollock's work in small pictures in books or on the internet just looks like silly random splodges, but seen close up and huge in the fleshcanvas for the first time there is a rhythm and power there that is quite astonishing.
Agree. I've been trying to find a decent size/ quality art print of 'Blue poles' for ages.
I had a whistlestop look at this show (the Michael Kenna) a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't heard of him; some very beautiful images that I don't think would translate well to screen at all due to immense subtlety. Highly recommended
I'd like to see that. Decent b+w prints often have a wonderful subtety and luminosity. Were all the prints tiny though?
Having been a massive fan of WPOY I am finding less enthusiasm as the years go on. Its hard to be original, and as remarkable as many photos are there are very few I'd want on the wall. Getting 'soul' into a photo is a tough call. Seeing a big print of this was amazing though, pretty haunting:
(http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources/visit-us/whats-on/wpy/dev/2011/popup/024.jpg)
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Im going to the V&A next month to see the masterpieces of Chinese painting exhibition. Heard about it watching the culture show a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/masterpieces-of-chinese-painting/ (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/masterpieces-of-chinese-painting/)
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Jackson Pollock's work in small pictures in books or on the internet just looks like silly random splodges, but seen close up and huge in the fleshcanvas for the first time there is a rhythm and power there that is quite astonishing.
In contrast, I went to see Hockney's exhibition in London last year. Part of his work included iPad sketches of his landscapes. They showed a certain amount of deft at using a tablet, but they were just that, a sketch, not a gallery hanging. In book or on screen these looked intriging but a large scale print failed to have any great draw for me.
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Earlier this year we had the outrageous good fortune to be at a private function at the V&A - this included access to the "David Bowie is" exhibition
I have only a passing interest in Bowie, but really enjoyed it - I can see why Bowie fans were getting giddy about it
lots of his costumes and original scribblings, other stuff he's collected - all with an audio tour that works on proximity to each display
anyway - it's finished at the V&A, but it is going on tour - the V&A sold out pretty quick, but if you're near any of the other cities/countries it might work out
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/touring-exhibition-david-bowie-is/ (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/touring-exhibition-david-bowie-is/)
of no interest to anyone and including no actual pics of the Bowie exhibition - one of our films that hasn't been bought up by the adult entertainment industry
about as interesting as you'd expect from someone else's home movies
Usborne Golden Ticket on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/70049580)
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Not been yet but keen to catch 'Seizure' at YSP.
http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/roger-hiorns-seizure (http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/roger-hiorns-seizure)
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I'm currently quite impressed by Julius Kerscher (https://www.facebook.com/Julius.Kerscher.Paintings). I stumbled across him completely at random last week - googled his name because he's been setting some well above average routes at one of my local walls.
Borderline on-topic - he has an exhibition next year in Kufstein, Austria. I'll be going.
(Would post an example, but don't known how to get a usable image url out of facebook)
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Finally got round to seeing the Michael Kenna exhibition mentioned at the start of the thread. Really good retrospective of his work from cutting his teeth on home turf in '73 to his most recent prints from Japan. Enjoyed looking at the range of 50 or 60 prints on show we headed back in for a second viewing after a coffee and cake in The Brindley's own café (great homemade cake at a staggeringly bargain price!).
I had a whistlestop look at this show (the Michael Kenna) a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't heard of him; some very beautiful images that I don't think would translate well to screen at all due to immense subtlety. Highly recommended
I'd like to see that. Decent b+w prints often have a wonderful subtety and luminosity. Were all the prints tiny though?
Adam, all the prints were the same size, all just under A4 sized, mostly square. It did mean getting up close but with all prints presented in the same format I think helped you appreciate each shot for it's own merits.
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I've been a fan of Kenna for a while. As I understand he is both a fine photographer and master printer, which is why it's worth seeing his work in print. I have not, but I'd like to!
We stopped by the World Press Photo Exhibition in Innsbruck last week - some very powerful (and depressing, shocking and disturbing) images. I've never quite sure how they pick one over the other, but it was worth an hour of our time.
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Saw the "Facing the Modern" exhibition at the National Gallery last night.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/vienna (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/vienna)
Absolutely fantastic. Some really incredible paintings and psychologically fascinating - the faces of people riven with insecurities, the contemporaries of Freud, Mann and Mahler, and an insight into a rather wonderful lost world. Thoroughly recommend it if you're in the capital.
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Im going to the V&A next month to see the masterpieces of Chinese painting exhibition. Heard about it watching the culture show a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/masterpieces-of-chinese-painting/ (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/masterpieces-of-chinese-painting/)
I went on Saturday, its incredible! Some of the scrolls they have there are truly mind blowing.
The 12 meter long Prosperous Suzhou was the highlight for me, ive found a link to a half decent resolution image of it online:
http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hsa13/scroll/suzhou_viewer.html (http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hsa13/scroll/suzhou_viewer.html)
Its true detail was like nothing ive even seen, I spent a good hour looking at it!
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BP Portrait Awards on in Aberdeen Art Gallery at the moment. Not been in yet, saving it for a cold and wet lunchtime or two in new year.
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Im going to the V&A next month to see the masterpieces of Chinese painting exhibition. Heard about it watching the culture show a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/masterpieces-of-chinese-painting/ (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/masterpieces-of-chinese-painting/)
I went on Saturday, its incredible! Some of the scrolls they have there are truly mind blowing.
The 12 meter long Prosperous Suzhou was the highlight for me, ive found a link to a half decent resolution image of it online:
http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hsa13/scroll/suzhou_viewer.html (http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~hsa13/scroll/suzhou_viewer.html)
Its true detail was like nothing ive even seen, I spent a good hour looking at it!
wow thats awesome. I wish Suzhou (still) looked like that in real life bit of an ugly shit hole now.
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Jeremy Deller's show 'All that is Solid Melts into Air' at Manchester City Gallery (open to Jan 19th) is highly recommended; an exploration of the impact of the industrial revolution on British culture. Sounds like a dry musuem exhibit but is actually an art show: http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=108 (http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=108)
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Wife went to see this yesterday, was very impressed. Not managed to get down myself yet.
Chris Watson, Inside the Circle of Fire - A Sheffield Sound Map (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1x_wvFmqi8#)
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Just been to the Klee exhibition at the Tate modern. Good - interesting history too.. Kandinsky, Bauhaus etc..
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Took Jr T to the Bacon/Moore at the Ashmolean a while back - not massive but certainly excellent
edit - on til mid January....
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Just been to the Klee exhibition at the Tate modern. Good - interesting history too.. Kandinsky, Bauhaus etc..
Oh,. And if you're in Greenwich, this is good.. And unusual..
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/19/aruna4a8.jpg)
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I'd really like to see that.
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Me too. Private Dancer is a great album.
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Me too. Private Dancer is a great album.
Very funny Chris - you're simply the best.
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Please don't make out that I'm all that great, we don't need another hero.
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A commercial gallery rather than a public one but if anyone here is a fan of street inspired art - affordable too - it might be worth popping by a little place called art schism (http://www.artschism.net/) if you're down south Brighton way.
Mrs T and myself are fans and have been parted with cash there - as has Jr T who spent his Christmas money on a crochet monster! (https://www.facebook.com/Mazcan.arts)
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I'm incredibly excited for 'Rembrandt: The Final Years' that will be opening at the National in October - I will definitely be making the effort to get down to London for this one.
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Sadly, I won't get to see this. Highly recommended if you like that sort of thing. I saw his 'Monumenta' exhibition a good few year's back, I'd been a fanfor year, but the first time seeing the works for real was 'wow' moment.
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/anselm-kiefer (http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/anselm-kiefer)
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http://artofthebrick.co.uk/the-exhibition (http://artofthebrick.co.uk/the-exhibition)
I'd love to go see this. The kids might like it too.
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Mondrian at the Tate Liverpool is smallish but very good...
Matisse at Tate Modern (London) is superb - their most popular exhibition to date and well deserved.
Both are very good as they reveal alot about the life and modus operandi of both artists. Piet Mondrian with his OCD style room / apartment of squares of colour - his paintings were almost more part of a larger work of art rather than individuals. in particular his early work where he was insipired by a half falled down building opposite his window show how his blocks of colour evolved from his early cubist ideas... Matisse is fascinating in how they are all made of small cuts of paper (initially) pinned on the wall. There is a fascinating video on loop of an old Matisse ordering his young assistant as to where to place the cuts of paper with a stick...
Thats it for me art wise... Anyone here been to the Hepworth in Wakefield? Worth a look?
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I must see the Mondrian before it closes.
I totally stumbled on a small but really wonderful Whistler exhibition currently on at the Bluecoats (Liverpool) - more than worth an hour of anyone's time, and its free (not sure how much longer its open).
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A small but balanced exhibition of Bacon & Freud at Manchester at the moment, well worth a visit.
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Sounds wonderful - is that at the central gallery?
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Yes.
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Falling Down and I went to the 'Rembrandt: The Late Works' show at the National Gallery yesterday. Just astounding; powerful, humane, moving - the best exhibition I've ever seen. If you get a chance, go. It's open until Jan 15th.
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Yes, if anyone's in London and interested in art, you would really enjoy it. It's really quite something.
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Falling Down and I went to the 'Rembrandt: The Late Works' show at the National Gallery yesterday. Just astounding; powerful, humane, moving - the best exhibition I've ever seen. If you get a chance, go. It's open until Jan 15th.
I went with the missus to Rembrandt on Sunday. I thought it was one of the best curated exhibitions I'd been to in ages. Brilliant, so glad I caught it.
On the flipside, went to see the Ming Exhibition in the British Museum on Friday. I thought this was poorly curated. The exhibits were beautiful but the way they'd been laid out meant that the enormous crowds obscured the view of most of them unless you waited ages (by which time they began to seem underwhelming). I also found the exhibition pretty 'dumbed down'. It just dropped tantalising little bits of information and went no further, so you were really left with more questions than answers. It didn't really fill in the gaps with what (little) I know about Chinese history. Most of the information was crammed into a 2 minute video at the start. Maybe it was all in the e-guide thing they flog you for an extra few quid (which I hate as I like to take the exhibition at my own pace rather than waiting for the audio).
I thought the Viking exhibition at the British museum earlier in the year was also a bit poor. It's something I know a little more about having studied Viking literature a bit at Uni and thought they missed out some of the key figures of the age. I guess it's inevitable that you make choices about what to show, but they only made one passing oblique reference to Snorri Sturluson, whose Poetic Edda and Prose Edda were the sources of much of the information they'd displayed elsewhere and much of the information we know at all about Viking culture. Just seemed a particularly glaring omission to me.
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Went to the RA today for the Abstract Expressionism exhibition. Wow. The big beasts Rothko, Pollock & De Kooning alongside the equally as good but less well known Clyfford Still, Adolph Gottlieb and Arshile Gorky. All alongside one another in the UK for the first time in 60 years. It's really amazing. BBC review here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/NYd5dlxTQzwHHRqb7wk7Ff/the-power-to-amaze-abstract-expressionism-at-the-ra) Go if you can.
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Agreed went the other week, the chief curator David Anfam gave a talk about the art in the exhibition. Some great things to see and experience in the flesh, especially if you are a painter.
I would ignore any negative reviews, I enjoyed it and would love to go back and see it again.
But I have two thoughts, not about the exhibition but the movement itself.
Do you think the abstract experionists would be famous if they were not American?
Secondly the murky role the CIA played in helping this movement grow.
Anfam from what I remember didn't say much about these two questions.
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Agreed went the other week, the chief curator David Anfam gave a talk about the art in the exhibition. Some great things to see and experience in the flesh, especially if you are a painter.
I would ignore any negative reviews, I enjoyed it and would love to go back and see it again.
But I have two thoughts, not about the exhibition but the movement itself.
Do you think the abstract experionists would be famous if they were not American?
Secondly the murky role the CIA played in helping this movement grow.
Anfam from what I remember didn't say much about these two questions.
Great post jfdm (This is why I love UKB) I'm guessing that you're a painter. I bet the talk was brilliant.
Answer to Q1 - Yeah I do think these works would stand up as great works of art and the painters would be famous even if they weren't American. They were deeply connected to European art and the opening exhibits tie them directly to Cubism, Surrealism and what was going on in Europe. Guernica (the painting) and the Spanish Civil War are obviously a huge influence, probably even more so than WWII. Motherwell's entire works on Spain are a great example alongside the subtle influences in De Kooning's (he was Dutch mind) Woman series as an exploration of what Picasso was doing.
When we were walking up to the RA I said to my GF that I really love this stuff as it's like Jazz and Minimalist music expressed in a visual form and there was really close connection between Europe and America in the 50's and 60's in all forms of art, literature and music. There was a real creative period during the post-war period in the US across all art forms.
That said, the second question is really interesting one.
Answer to Q2 - I'm really surprised that Anfam dodged this or didn't talk about it. It's one of the more interesting back stories to the whole movement. The artists themselves were oblivious to where the funding was coming from and the CIA had a very long leash when it came to providing money and had a very hands-off policy to any influence of what was being done and who was doing it. There's a great article on it all here (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-weapon-1578808.html) from the Independent twenty years ago.
I'm still buzzing from the Rothko's, the massive Pollock and all the Still's. Amazing stuff. Will probably go back.
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They are great questions! And they are deeply intertwined - CIA promotion was undoubtedly influential and took part has the whole balance of the world, the centre of gravity - political, economic and cultural - finally and definitely shifted from the old world to the new. The 1950s and 1960s were the very high point of the American century and cultural exports were almost as important to cementing as other more tangible exports. Abstract expressionism, alongside Jazz, was probably the first artistic movement the US could claim as wholly its own.
But I don't think that diminishes the work - standing in front of Rothko's Four Seasons murals has to be one of the most powerful cultural experiences I've had. They came to Liverpool twice in the time I was there and the first time I saw them was astonishing.
I'm jealous!
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This has got me psyched to get down to London. The Rothko exhibition at the Tate (2009?) was one of the most mind blowing things I've ever seen.
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Thanks Andy and Falling Down for these insights regarding the Abstract Expressionist artists. And finding the time to reply to my questions.
The exhibition was the best thing I have seen in a good number of years.
Regarding the CIA had a quick flick through the catalogue.
No real mention of the link so can't have been that important.
Came across this article regarding gallery/museum numbers falling.
In particular school visits dropping quite drastically.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/feb/02/british-museums-art-galleries-hit-by-2m-fall-visitors (https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/feb/02/british-museums-art-galleries-hit-by-2m-fall-visitors)
As an art teacher I know the ball ache that goes along trips.
But still find it incredible that last year there were nearly 2 million fewer visitors.
Maybe galleries/teachers should be doing more?
Or is it the case that we are doing something wrong.
On a positive note Art History ALevel is back on the cards.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/dec/01/art-history-a-level-saved-from-being-axed-after-high-profile-campaign (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/dec/01/art-history-a-level-saved-from-being-axed-after-high-profile-campaign)
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Given the recent economic figures it seems like we're spending more time in the shops instead :-/
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I really enjoyed the Warhol exhibition at the Whitworth Gallery (Manchester). I ended up re imagining Warhol not just as a pop-art money-maker, but as a darkly satirical artist. Some of his self-portrait prints in particular were almost a bit disturbing.
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I really enjoyed the Warhol exhibition at the Whitworth Gallery (Manchester). I ended up re imagining Warhol not just as a pop-art money-maker, but as a darkly satirical artist. Some of his self-portrait prints in particular were almost a bit disturbing.
I had the same experiencce when I visited MOMO in San Francisco (and later, a Tate Modern exhibition). I had become desensitised to Warhol (15 minutes of fame... blah, blah, blah) but when I saw his works at full size and "in the flesh" I found them quite eerie (strange how creedly a lifesize cut-out of Elvis can be!).
For me though the most extreme contrast of reaction between seeing the reproduction and the original was the Rothko Seagram murals. Although, I suspect fore-knowledge of their history was critical to my reaction. Rothko was commisssioned to paint them for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York but then became agonised and returned his advance due to misgivings about decorating an expensive restaurant where the patrons would spend “obscene amounts of money” and pay no attention to his work. Rothko supposedly said “I accepted this assignment with strictly malicious intentions. I hope to ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room.” He held back the murals and they were dispersed around the world. I saw an exhibition of them at the Tate and it was a transendentally gloomy experience.
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For me though the most extreme contrast of reaction between seeing the reproduction and the original was the Rothko Seagram murals.
This come up amongst some of my FB friends last week. I've had the privilege of seeing the Seagream Murals twice, both times in Liverpool. I was kind of interested in Rothko before going but was completely unprepared for how powerful and transporting the paintings are. Transcendent, as you say Moose.
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I think the knowledge of the murals' history and the sombre setting was a factor in my response. The Tate had taken great pains to create an appropriate environment; I recall seeing a documentary showing how the curators agonised for years on matters such as bench design! However, the works themselves, when seen in the flesh, had a visceral quality I was unprepared for; the topography of the paint, thickly trowelled on, seemed to give them both a physcial and an emotional texture.
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I really enjoyed the Warhol exhibition at the Whitworth Gallery (Manchester). I ended up re imagining Warhol not just as a pop-art money-maker, but as a darkly satirical artist. Some of his self-portrait prints in particular were almost a bit disturbing.
Totally forgotten this was on. Cheers for the reminder!
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Went to RA teachers evening last week to look at the American After the Fall exhibition.
Was brilliant, seeing American Gothic was amazing.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/6565 (http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/6565)
Grant's works reminds me of Stanley Spencer, working at a similar time, content/execution similar.
The Gothic arrangement looks really simple, but the more you look at it, the more you notice repetitions that Grant used to create the image. These aren't obvious from the reproductions much more noticeable in the flesh. It is rightly a revered image and lucky to have it London for a while.
One word of warning this exhibition is in the small galleries upstairs in the RA, rooms tight and I expect it to be rammed.
Yesterday went back to look at the Revolution - Russian Art, this was rammed, a bit of a hodgepodge, there was some great Kandinsky's and the Malevich install was brill.
Both exhibition are worth a few hours of any bodies time.
Showing how economic/political turmoil effected culture in these two countries.
The question I would like to know is it just coincidence that these two shows are on together at the same time? Could Russia not put on a show without American culture flexing its muscles? Or for Trumps and Puts are these shows about soft power for both nations? Or just coincidental in there timing?
The other thing is the American infiltration of recent RA shows.
The Head of Learning is American and wonder how much of the curatorial staff are American. Just a thought not a conspiracy.
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For me though the most extreme contrast of reaction between seeing the reproduction and the original was the Rothko Seagram murals. Although, I suspect fore-knowledge of their history was critical to my reaction. Rothko was commisssioned to paint them for the Four Seasons restaurant in New York but then became agonised and returned his advance due to misgivings about decorating an expensive restaurant where the patrons would spend “obscene amounts of money” and pay no attention to his work. Rothko supposedly said “I accepted this assignment with strictly malicious intentions. I hope to ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room.” He held back the murals and they were dispersed around the world. I saw an exhibition of them at the Tate and it was a transendentally gloomy experience.
This is brilliant. Just had a look at the murals - he did a good job at communicating a "closed-in" feeling.
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If anyone's around Keswick in the next two months check out Henry Iddon (http://www.henryiddon.com/)s exhibition at the museum.
http://keswickmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/event/instanto-outdoors-exhibition/
Contemporary photographs by Henry Iddon, taken with a 100 year old Underwood Instanto Camera previously used by the Abraham Brothers, whose early 20th century climbing images accompany the exhibition.
[Disclaimer: H is a mate of mine, but I'm not getting paid for this post.... ;)]
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If anyone's around Keswick in the next two months check out Henry Iddon (http://www.henryiddon.com/)s exhibition at the museum.
That'll be good. I've been a fan since bumping into 'Spots of Time' at the Brindley in Runcorn. Funnily enough I reconnected with an old schoolmate after seeing him on http://www.henryiddon.com/Forton-Stories
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I'm in the Westminster area on Wednesday. Finish work at half 2/3. Need to be at King's Cross for a train at half 6.
Anything that I ought to do in the interim? Either gallery or museum, I think. Last time I was in a similar scenario I went for a tour of Parliament and it was amazing. If anyone can recommend some good quality fast food (like some nice noodles or something) that I can get on the way then even better.
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What have you done?
Bit of a detour, but I find the Tower of London a fascinating place. Great if you can join one of the walking tours (or even part of one), the Beefeater's knowledge and delivery is brilliant.
If there is no queue, the royal bling is pretty amazing to see.
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British Museum is close to Kings X Will. Free entry and loads to see.
Lots of nice noodle places nearby too. I can recommend Hozi (25 Theobolds road) Korean - delicious and cheap.
You could swing by the British Library as it’s next to the station. The public exhibition of historic books is really something. Free and easy to get in and out.
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Sounds bomber, FD. I don't suppose you've been to the Troy exhibition at the BM? At £20, it seems a bit steep but it's had very good reviews. Will Gompertz suggested that you might already need a functioning understanding of the mythology to get the most out of it, which I certainly don't have beyond what I've seen in Hollywood films.
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The Grant Museum of Zoology is nearby, free and quite interesting. Basically lots of animals pickled in jars. It’s quite small though and I don’t think many would stay longer than an hour or so
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That sounds almost too good to miss. Reminds me of that museum find from Manchester (I think it was found by TomTom). The stuffed goat sporting a very fine blue jumper. With absolutely no explanation as to why it was wearing a jumper.
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Anyone interested in things pickled in jars should check out the Mutter Museum (should they find themselves in Philadelphia that is) - a particularly gruesome and disturbing history of medicine museum.
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Off topic but if you are at all interested in Greek mythology then Stephen Fry’s Mythos & Heroes books are amazing for an accessible and well-strung-together overview. Shocked me how plagiarised the bible and Shakespeare’s works are... I’ve the audiobook of Heroes that I think I should be able to share with you over audible. DM me if you’d like it.
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DM me if you’d like it.
Yes please :)
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Anyone interested in things pickled in jars should check out the Mutter Museum (should they find themselves in Philadelphia that is) - a particularly gruesome and disturbing history of medicine museum.
Likewise Aberdeen Uni if anyone has some time to kill https://www.abdn.ac.uk/about/campus/zoology-museum-387.php
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Closed until next year, but for history of medicine and Things In Jars, I highly rec:
https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums-and-archives/hunterian-museum/
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The Grant Museum of Zoology is nearby, free and quite interesting. Basically lots of animals pickled in jars. It’s quite small though and I don’t think many would stay longer than an hour or so
But! Looks like that's super-close to the Petrie Museum, one of my favourite ever London museums, so you could visit both:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/petrie-museum
Tiny two-room museum crammed with some of the most breathtaking ancient Egyptian artefacts I've ever seen -- like a child's ragdoll that's thousands of years old.
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That sounds almost too good to miss. Reminds me of that museum find from Manchester (I think it was found by TomTom). The stuffed goat sporting a very fine blue jumper. With absolutely no explanation as to why it was wearing a jumper.
Thats the Natural History Museum at the University (Oxford Road). Part of its now being re-built. But (for families) they now have a small coffee shop and indoor picnic area on the top floor... The stuffed goat is a Mouflon. No idea why it was wearing a blue jumper - City colours though...
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Sounds bomber, FD. I don't suppose you've been to the Troy exhibition at the BM? At £20, it seems a bit steep but it's had very good reviews. Will Gompertz suggested that you might already need a functioning understanding of the mythology to get the most out of it, which I certainly don't have beyond what I've seen in Hollywood films.
Hi Will - I've got a membership for the museum, it's 60 quid per year but gets you into all the exhibitions and talks without charge plus a members room and cafe where I go to study. You don't have to queue to get in and there's a 10% discount at the cafe and shop. I feel like Howard Carter or a character from an HP Lovecraft novel when I'm in the members room and library ;). I went to the Troy exhibition over the christmas hols. It's really good but was quite busy when I went during holiday time so will go again when it's quiet. When do you come down as I could slip you my card? Unfortunately I'm interviewing in the morning and then in our monthly management meeting all Friday afternoon otherwise I would have ducked out 'for a meeting' and taken you in or just given you my card. OK, how about this?, just swing by my office as it's only 5-10 mins walk away and I'll duck out quickly and give it you, you can drop it back afterwards at the desk downstairs. DM me and I can send you my number.
The exhibition is good. I must admit that my recent studies into Greek mythology (Footnote - to understand what Jung is about really demands a quite intimate knowledge of this stuff) and reading the Iliad and Odyssey a couple of times certainly enhanced the experience for me 'cos I largely knew the stories and who they all were. There's plenty of explanatory boards and stuff but it's mainly statues and pieces of pottery with people on them, so on face value it might be disappointing for twenty quid. There's some interesting art - in fact the best piece of the whole exhibition is Cy Twombly's 'Vengeance of Achilles' which is amazing and then a whole section of how the Iliad, Odyssey and legends of Troy in 19th C and 20th C art that's pretty good.
Anyway, if you fancy it DM me. This goes for anyone else - Duncan, Sean, csl, Yossarian - who live nearby or anyone who's visiting. I've got two cards for me and W so feel free to use them anytime. Just tap me up on here or directly.
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Not entirely local for most on here, but I was a fantastic Dürer show at the Albertina gallery in Vienna recently.
The permanent collection there at the Kunsthistorisches Museum is also amazing - not surprisingly I suppose on reflection, given that the Habsburgs were the most powerful and influential family in Europe all through the time when the best sutff was being painted. Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow alone is worth driving five hundred miles to see.
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That's a really kind offer, Ben. Thank you! I'll send you a PM :)
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My pleasure - have messaged you.
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FD's recommendations certainly delivered. The Troy exhibition is really good and I needn't have worried about not having enough background knowledge. Walking round, I realised that nearly everyone must know the basics of the Iliad and the Odyssey from reading the stories as kids.
I saw an incredible amount of VERY old stuff. I get a real sense of awe when I get to stand in front of something that was made in 500 odd BC (that's right. B fucking C!). To think that it was held by someone that long ago and has survived intact.
I just about had time to dash around a few other things before leaving. Highlights were a single-use disposable clay cup that was made in Crete 3500 years ago and a 17th century silver-gilt huntsman automaton. Imagine this: a beruffed huntsman wearing gaudy regalia; he carries a long spear which he points in front of him; he is hollow, and can be set into motion by clockwork. His purpose? Getting lashed with your mates. The figure would be filled with wine and whoever his spear should point to when he stopped would have to neck the lot.
Now, at a metre in diameter and weighing over 17Kg, the Regency silver Shield of Achilles, with Apollo bursting forth in his chariot, may look impressive, but this could not give me the same pleasure as the 1st Century AD Roman medical toolkit that I later happened upon. Not only were there some gnarly looking catheters but also a genuine RECTAL SPECULUM. It looked like the kind of thing you might find attached to Fiend's chalkbag.
A grand couple of hours. Thanks, FD!
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Sounds like you had a good day out.
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Glad you enjoyed it Will.