Tag Archives: exhibition

Miles Aldridge, Somerset House

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The explosive Miles Aldridge retrospective at Somerset House is one of two shows of this photographer’s work in London over the summer, displaying large-scale prints from throughout his career as well as more modest evidence of his artistic vision.

Tickets cost £6, which seems cheap, but there are only two rooms to see. Aldridge has two obsessions: women and colour. Both these concerns are seen in almost every work, each more powerful than the last. Interestingly my favourite shot was absent of any female protagonist, instead it pictures a broken egg yolk scorched by a cigarette butt. Disturbed by his parents’ divorce, the female figures have a vacant but dominant expression, they own their disastrous and destructive scenes.

Aside from the vivacious prints, we enjoyed being observers of Aldridge’s thought processes. One cabinet displays repetitive Polaroid shots, a method used by the artist to ensure the perfect poise and pose. Considering his contemporary images and style, it was interesting to discover his traditional technical approach – he never uses digital film.

Presentation is as wacky and bold as Aldridge himself; each wall is painted a different hue from creamy turquoise to neon pink. This design decision makes the work really vibrant and revives a Pop Art aesthetic.

Short, sweet, and sexy, this is a strong selection of Miles Aldridge photographs. The exhibition continues at Somerset House until 29th September and a signed book of the work, published by Rizzoli, is available to buy from the shop – a memory of this explosive exhibition.

More information here: www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/miles-aldridge-i-only-want-you-to-love-me

THOROUGHLY MODERN MAN: David Bowie is,V&A

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David Bowie is… is a disturbing exhibition.

For a start there is the large number of greying glam rockers feeling the agonies of unrequited love all over again as they stand mesmerised by Bowie costumes, videos and portraits. Then there is the problem of everybody wearing audio guides and shuffling around in the near-darkness like a troupe of zombies from some Diamond Dogs style dystopia. And there is the fact that the concentration of the Bowie phenomenon was the 1970s, forty years ago and there have been some less edifying creative moments since – this is addressed by ornamenting the full length of the show with 70s highlights thereby confusing any chronology and sense of evolution.

This is a new kind of exhibition: an examination of a single living individual as cultural catalyst and all round icon. There are not many artists who warrant such attention. David Bowie does. The blanket media coverage of his creative rebirth and the simultaneous hype surrounding this show have produced a dazzling glare illuminating, rather than over-exposing, his significance as musician, fashion pioneer and popular conceptualist.

The outfits are still extraordinary, the music is still inspiring and the man still appears exotically beautiful. Everybody is seduced by his art once again. However it is the way he redefined gender that is probably his most important legacy. Is there any more widely cited televisual epiphany than the draping of Bowie’s arm over Mick Ronson’s shoulder on Top of the Pops? That is the closest we have come to an extraterrestrial invasion – the starman blew our minds.

Continues until 11 August 2013, more information and become and V&A member here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Chris Kenny.

THOROUGHLY MODERN MAN: Roy Lichtenstein, Tate Modern

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There’s no denying the cultural presence of Roy Lichtenstein – his expansion of comic book graphics is now more identifiable than the original genre. Along with Warhol, he narrowed the gap between art and life and made possible all the pop oriented art from the 60s to the present. The show at Tate Modern attempts to celebrate Lichtenstein’s inventiveness and creative personality beyond the mere appropriation of comic book imagery. By showing his redesigning of the source material (most obvious in the Tate’s 1963 painting ‘Whaam!’) they claim an autonomy and originality for him previously ignored.

On display is early and late work that has not been seen in the UK before that suggests an undiscovered variety within his narrow idiom. Lichtenstein was keen to assert the handmade-ness of his work so as to maintain his fine art credentials, but the early work is surprisingly slapdash and the mature work is so mechanical and perfect that the artist’s touch is invisible. The large room of his classic War and Romance pictures is undoubtedly the highlight of the exhibition, full of punchy, eye-grabbing icons – he is a consummate designer – however the curators’ ambition to present him as a subtle master with covert psychological depth is ultimately unconvincing.

Exhibition continues until 27 May 2013, more information and book here.

Written by a Thoroughly Modern Man, Chris Kenny.