July Arts Newsletter
Thames near Wargrave, oil on canvas, 77x67cm framed
I hope you have been able to keep cool over the past couple of weeks. May I reiterate from last month how cool most of our museums are too, definitely a place to hang out in the Summer months.
I have been busy in the studio recently with work for Henley Royal Regatta which started yesterday. I have four paintings going into the exhibition in Stewards enclosure, please do pop in to see if you are there. All works should be river related which is a joy, especially as I have been walking the Thames path over the past couple of years with an old friend. Walking upstream we have made it as far as Abingdon so far and I feel like I have really got to know the Thames, highly recommended!
Exhibitions to see and book this month.
ART ALERT It’s coming home! 60 years of hurt?? More like 900. The Bayeux Tapestry is thought to have been stitched by a team of Anglo-Saxon women soon after 1066. It is currently trundling it’s way over to London at 1mph whilst its home gets a refurb. You can’t see it until September but booking opened this morning. This is going to be Autumn’s hot ticket so book yours now.
British Museum 10 Sept 26 - 11 July 27
Frida: The Making of an Icon
This Frida Kahlo exhibition is the Tate Modern blockbuster this Summer and will be sure to draw in the crowds. This exhibition questions why Kahlo’s work is so popular. I haven’t seen the show yet but I would say she is loved by so many because
There is passion, charisma and beauty in her work
Kahlo’s work is easy to like featuring monkeys and fruit making it a gateway drug to art for kids
Kahlo had a hard life with many obstacles, it’s quite a story
The exhibition is filled out with examples of her ‘legacy’ ie artists who have copied her. I’d rather they stuck to more work by the artist herself but then maybe they wouldn’t have enough to make a blockbuster. Definitely book if going.
Anish Kapoor
This is Kapoor’s second solo show at the Hayward Gallery nearly 30 years after his first. As a retrospective it takes us through many of his heavy hitters and emphasises the importance of scale in his work. This stuff is big. Using his patented ‘Vantablack’ which is meant to be the blackest of all blacks (can you really bagsy a colour?!), Kapoor creates illusions forcing you to question perception vs. reality.
There are some gory works but, famously, there are no explanations. You bring the story. Looking at his sculpture, I like to decide which of his works I like sharing space with and which I find, frankly, terrifying.
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
This show has a similar premise to the Frida Kahlo: what is it about Marilyn Monroe that makes her still so recognisable and iconic over 60 years after her death? The National Portrait Gallery here argues that Monroe had significant agency in the development of her look and fame. Like Kahlo, she was treated badly by the men in her life but she did at least have control in the way she was perceived.
There are photographical portraits from all the big name photographers here as well as some fabulous painters including one of my favourites, de Kooning. The ongoing conversation about fame: perception vs reality, was essentially started by Andy Warhol. As one of the protagonists in the Marilyn icon image creation this exhibition is the perfect place to compare the 20th with the 21st century’s handling of fame. A thorny issue and one that goes deeper than this exhibition may at first appear.
National Portrait Gallery until 6 Sept 26
Art News
The biggest and saddest art news of the past few weeks is the death of David Hockney. One of art’s great innovators and enthusiastic user of all available media, living and working to the age of 88 means we have lots of his work to enjoy.
From paintings, prints, photography, video, electronic and stained glass (spot it in Westminster Abbey, stunning!) we were so lucky to have him. Hockney followed the simple mantra ‘Paint the things you love’ which usually means we love them too. Like Kahlo, above, Hockney’s work is a gateway drug to art. Bring it on.
Moored skiff on Thames, oil on canvas 66x76cm framed. Showing at Henley Regatta this week
Get in touch
katharine@kath
