Eduardo Paolozzi sculpture outside the Design Museum Kensington
The Design Museum Kensington
I was lucky to get a sneak preview of the Design Museum on Sunday and I will definitely be returning. It opens this week, great location, great meeting place and ‘design is all around us’ is my mantra now leading up to Christmas. Design is the arts and sciences working together creatively.
Omer Arbel:44
A stroll through the city, coffee in the sunshine and something beautiful at the Barbican. Hundreds of free-poured aluminium arms suspended from the ceiling by thin cables, designed by Omer Arbel and produced by Bocci.
Once attracted and or inspired its always worth investigating further. I got home, logged on to the Internet and found on the Barbican website (when you search Omer Arbel) a great video showing, Behind the Scenes: Building Bocci and Omer Abel’s 44. Wow, Creative teamwork in action.
As more and more shows restrict photography I have begun to struggle to find an image to represent my recent experiences. But not allowing photography is a positive as more time is spent enjoying rather than taking pictures.
My latest expedition was to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Picasso Portraits exhibition, which is on until 5 February 2017. A sunny day, a trip to Trafalgar Square, a coffee of course and a Picasso moment, provided me with a lasting image for the day.
David Smith, CubiXXV111965 Solomon R.Guggenheim Museum, New York. By exchange 1967. On Display at the RA in London.
My latest venture was to the Royal Academy of Arts exhibition ‘Abstract Expressionism’. An exhibition I loved particularly because of work by artists such as Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning. So much colour and so much meaning and once again my arts hit did the trick.
David Smiths sculptures on display in the Annenberg Courtyard outside the RA building are so different to the show inside. I walked straight passed them enroute in, but worth a long pause at the end and my reason for a planned return visit with lots of questions.
Merete Rasmussen (born 1974) ‘Red Twisted Form’ 2012.http://www.mereterasmussen.com
Time has passed since the London Design Festival in September but its time for me to revisit my image prompts and remind myself of the talent and inspiration available out there. I recommend collecting information or images, like collecting ingredients for your favourite meal. Always have them available for that moment when you need that pick me up.
This piece caught my eye at the V&A because of its colour, exactness and that element of fun. A beautiful piece in a rather austere environment and perfect as part of the Festival.
‘The Portrait of Sakip Sabanci’ by Kutlug Ataman
With ‘selfies’ and a ‘look at me’ culture, it was a welcome relief to find a piece of work at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, which was a reminder about the people around us.10,000 LCD panels, hung from the ceiling like a large sheet quivering in the wind. ‘The Portrait of Sakip Sabanci’ by Kutlug Ataman was a work, which really focused on people, but it was the people whom Sabanci had encountered before his death 15 years ago. It was a reminder of my own people landscape and a great choice for the exhibition.
Anke Birnie ‘Acrobat’ 
I visited the Affordable Art Show in London at the weekend and fell in love with so many pieces of work. I spoke to the Artists and saw the excitement in the eyes of people who knew they had found something absolutely made for them.
‘Acrobat’ is my pull out photo today because I was drawn in like a bee to a honey pot by Anke Birnie’s work at the Store Street Gallery stand. The tension in the acrobats arm, her hand clinging to the rope, the bronze and her clothes draping are all part of her appeal, but with all arts there is always something else which is indescribable. Something beautiful.
Wow a location where the arts and sciences are in unison. Being outside, enjoying a structure which just has a very calming effect is a must for anyone feeling they just want to get out away from the rat run. I don’t know if it’s the stretched fabric, the idea of a robot behind a screen and of course the colourful environment surrounding, but without doubt engineering has suddenly become live for me.
Elytra Filament Pavilion V&A Engineering Season – 6 November.
I plan to stop numbering my blogs once I get to 100, but getting to 100 has been a greater challenge than I expected. I’m presently feeling like one of the few people on earth who is not on face book, but no worries, I see this blog as putting my head above the parapet and my attempt to join the other side.
Well for the moment number 86 continues to be my memory bank, which is essential and today I return to my trip to Oxford University Museum of Natural History and finding Bees, in particular Kurt Jacksons Bees exhibition.
Amazing creatures in an absolutely amazing place.
A closer look at ‘Winter 1909’ Kandinsky
Finding Kandinsky in St Petersburg was pure pleasure. Its funny how something ignites you to want to find out more, to want to investigate the image and provides you with butterflies inside. A different location and a different landscape is a good starting point for a creative adventure.
Approaching art and culture with no preconceptions and just being curious is the perfect starting point.
Finding the right button to press is what most of us are looking for and the world of art in whatever form is one place to find it.
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