The Cold War Modern Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington has been hugely popular. It shows a not so distant past that has directly impacted our present. Many of the concerns and developments during this period are still very relevant in our society today. The tension between technological developments for the benefit of man versus technology as the means of destroying man is something we are still struggling with. Continue reading “Cold War Modern”

I bet you didn’t know that Somerset House is not just there to make the ice rink look pretty in the winter. Well, apart from doing that, it is in fact an art gallery; and I am surprised at just how many students I’ve spoken to at King’s who have not visited it. This is despite the fact there is free entry upon showing a student card (provided it belongs to the relevant person…) and the fact it is of closer proximity than Walkabout.

It has an array of fine arts to suit everyone’s tastes. The following extract from the Somerset House website may sound like the callings of a circus master, but it really does have an excellent collection of diverse arts: ‘From architecture to watercolours, and from pen and ink to precious stones, the Courtauld Institute of Art, Gilbert Collection and Hermitage Rooms have a worldwide reputation to instruct, delight and amaze’.

Delight and amaze it does. However, for those who are consistently delighted and amazed by the colourful contents of a fish bowl they may need more persuasion…

The Courtauld Institute houses various exhibitions; the most recent being Kokoschka’s ‘The Prometheus Triptych’ 1950. The piece itself comprises of three separate panels illustrating adaptations of ancient myths in order to convey a contemporary message. Kokoschka expressed at the 1952 Venice Bienalle, that his intention was to warn of ‘man’s intellectual arrogance’.

The centre panel depicts an apocalyptic vision of four horsemen rising up with a gathering storm from the underworld and charging towards the earth; the right-hand panel depicts Prometheus as punished by Zeus, chained to a rock with an eagle pecking at his liver; this panel reinforces the idea that contemporary civilisation is arrogant of its knowledge, and is symbolised by the figure of Prometheus. According to Kokoschka, it is Prometheus’s ‘overweening nature [that] drove him to steal fire so that man could challenge the gods’. The symbolisation of Prometheus as man suggests that an overweening nature will invariably lead to a tragic fate.

In contrast, the left-hand panel offers some sense of hope and regeneration, with Persephone springing out of the clutches of Hades, who had abducted her, aided by her mother Demeter who stands between them.

Kokoschka communicates this sense of fear of the intellectual arrogance of mankind through the depiction of skin being a bleached white colour, sinister in the sense that it is suggestive of the colour of the bones of a skeleton; this is directly contrasted by the heavy dark blacks used to depict the background which is also suggestive of man’s inability to correlate with nature, through such chiaroscuro.

If only one area of the painting is inspected the variation of colour seems disorderly and unintelligible. However, if one steps back from the chaos of the nature of the strokes of paint it is easier to pinpoint the overall message which is being conveyed. This may be allegorically translated as Kokoschka’s notion of mankind erroneously and potentially fatally confining himself to one area of knowledge; he feared that a focus on science and technology was leading humankind into disrepute, as was illustrated in the right-hand panel featuring Prometheus. He argued that we must step back from this blind endeavour of developing scientific technological advances and instead look to the imagination of the arts. Otherwise humankind will be a threat to its own freedom and individuality. This notion became more widespread as the Cold War and the race for nuclear armament gathered pace during the 1950s.

The paintings that the Courtauld Institute offer are contemporary, historical and world famous pieces of art. They lift messages often left lacking in imagination-grabbing potential in their textbook form and place them to glorious effect onto public canvases.

The next exhibition to take place at Somerset House will be Lucas Cranach the Elder (one of Germany’s greatest Renaissance artists) entitled ‘Temptation in Eden’. This will be on the 21st June- 23rd September. Hope you can make it.

Art throughout history has reflected and commented on the society producing it. Banksy, although using different techniques and methods such as stencils, graffiti, painting on animals and sneaking his own art into public galleries, is essentially doing nothing new.

The art world seems to be continually shocked and shaken as art diversifies and addresses new issues, through different mediums. However, when Monet and his fellow Impressionists first showed their works, they were equally lauded and lambasted, accused of a lacking detail, offering an unfinished, sketchy appearance – an affront to the established aesthetics. The Impressionists themselves were reflecting the changing atmosphere at a time of mass industrial expansion, suggesting the transience of nature by attempting to capture fleeting single moments.

The subverted art, in which we see Banksy pushing shopping trolleys into Monet’s Water Lilly Pond, highlights and celebrates the sensitive social awareness of both artists. Banksy is not apparently ‘rubbishing’ Monet, but instead offering a genuine reflection of contemporary society, suggesting the overflow of detritus as a result of mass consumption; created in its earliest form as a product of significant industrial expansion at the turn of the century. In essence, it could therefore be said that both artists were imparting the same message. This amalgamation is not in fact incongruous, but rather a natural fusion.

Owning art often appears to be exclusive to a small group of art collectors who have the necessary abundance of money to invest in this notoriously expensive hobby. This situation seems diametrically opposed to the ostensible aspiration of all art forms, in communicating an idea to the viewer and generating a sense of inclusiveness with the artists’ thoughts.

Owning art often appears to be exclusive to a small group of art collectors who have the necessary abundance of money to invest in this notoriously expensive hobby. This situation seems diametrically opposed to the ostensible aspiration of all art forms, in communicating an idea to the viewer and generating a sense of inclusiveness with the artists’ thoughts.

Should art not be for everyone to enjoy? Wanted Gallery is part of a new generation of galleries waking up to this idea of accessible art, by putting it online. The virtual doors opened to their web-gallery in April 2006, to complement the counterpart physical galleries located in Paris and Rio de Janeiro.

This means we can browse the virtual walls at our leisure and discover new artists equally global in their creative approach, minus the need to trek to an overcrowded gallery. Wanted Paris has harnessed the primal form of world wide communication, in order to bring art (itself a communicative form) into the modern sphere.

To see for yourself – www.wantedparis.com

My verdict 5/5

With a new academic year and Michaelmas term, King’s opens its doors to students both old and new. A warm welcome however, is not the standard currency of The Royal Academy, opting in preference for a reception of awe and intimidation. Ironically, The Gates of Hell hosting contorted figures, dramatic facials and visible pleas, greets the spectator. The Rodin Exhibition is certainly something.

The initial sense of marvel is magnified as one trail-blazes through the exhibition. The show has it all on immaculate display. Yet, it is not the elaborate bronze ‘Jove’ nor the enrapturing ‘Kiss’ that make this exhibition supremely unique, but rather the extensive display of smaller sculptures such as ‘The Woman that once was Beautiful’. Although less grand, each maximizes Rodin’s genius of making melancholia seem tragically beautiful and poised.

Hence, past the gates, and the predictable classics, you will find that the Royal Academy has it right; big is not necessarily better. Exhibition runs until October 23rd.

My verdict 5/5