We Are Closing In Five Minutes: Summer, Sketching and Museums Vol. I

Hi All,

 

Summer 2012 has gone to Heaven...It will be missed. I know the calendar has been telling me we're way past that point, but a yellow leaf landing on my shoulder today was a gentle reminder of the passing season. Very much like the gentle hand of Museum Security on your shoulder when they whisper in your ear that the Museum is closing in five minutes.

 

In August, I spent most of my spare time visiting random locations in London with enough inspiration to keep me sketching and happy. It was in the Museums, however, where I managed to focus best. I would walk in, spend a couple of hours visually dissecting masterpieces: looking at brush strokes, expressions; trying to submerge myself into the feel of the piece and feel that I was there ("Midnight in Paris", hehehe). Then I would spend the rest of my visit sketching. Let's go through some of the most memorable visits, in no particular order:

 

1) The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)

    http://www.vam.ac.uk/

 

From all places I frequented, the V&A Museum is the one I got the most out of. Most of my sketching sessions there were done standing up and quickly as I was playing Museum Pac-Man with Security...They somehow see Watercolours as a threat to the Exhibition, I saw them as a threat to my patience. Many times I was kindly invited to continue my impromptu art sessions in the street...something I strangely enjoyed with rebellious pride. Here's one of the quick sketches from these sessions:

 

 

 

The V&A is more non-linear than most museums because each area has its own feel and decor and galleries go from plain white rooms to an amazing space that appears to be a humongous storage area with Church facades, huge chunks of Roman Pillars and contorting heroes entangled in deadly combat with giant snakes. Impressive.

 

 

2) The Tate Modern

     http://www.tate.org.uk

 

I went to the Tate Modern twice this summer and my second visit was the longest and most eventful. I did not sketch during any of my visits because it is a museum full of...art that is more searching than conclusive in its execution, hence, it's better to drop the pencil and "listen". It's all Modern Art, so the place is littered with concept pieces, the stereotypical, bizarre Art Videos in dark rooms (I was expecting some Asian spectre creeping out of the screen at some point), Pre/Post War pieces and sculpture that could only be described as giant rat faeces.

 

I felt the collection as a whole is a homage to spiritual suffering, and I left wondering if the curator needs a hug. Even the Dali's that they have in there are very dark, and Dali's paintings usually stay away from the blues. The heavy feel of the artwork leaves you drained and when you want to comfort yourself with a cup of Tea and a brownie, you sink deeper at the Cafeteria with prices that will make you want to cut your ear off. Below, a painting by Malaga's favourite son, Bad Boy and Player - Pablo Ruiz:

 

 

Picasso sure was a strange man: was he complimenting or insulting the women who posed for him? God knows. While I was meditating on this I was interrupted by the laughter of a group of Art School students sketching some of these pieces to detail in their sketchbooks. I found this exercise futile and stupid: Some of the works such as the one above are the conclusion of decades-long artistic journeys...I do not think this is the best place to start; I think the beginning of any artistic journey should be the world around you and then you follow that path for a few years until you reach a style you can inhabit for some time. Teacher: F- for you. If you are conducting a drawing class and people are not absorbed completely into it but throwing things at each other and laughing, something's not working.

 

Then in one of the wings, there was this impossibly obscure and creepy exhibition by a Korean Artist that consisted in people pushing around some weird trolleys in a dark concrete space and a drum kit ominously sitting in a corner. This will give you an idea of what it was:

 

 

 

Of course, when I saw the drums I immediately felt an urge to play the beat of Two Princes by the Spin Doctors, but that would have completely killed the mood, right? Try this: Watch the video above first and then play both at the same time and you'll see the improvement.

 

 

Tate Modern: By all means, visit and reflect on the art, but go watch something stupid and fun later to wash away all the soot from your soul. Mind you, there are some really good examples of people trying to push the envelope on the right direction and also bear in mind that some of the artists in there are the movers and shakers of the XX Century Art world.

 

OK guys, there is pasta to be cooked and a painting to be finished...I will write later on the Saatchi Gallery, The British Museum and Somerset House. See ya!!