this past sunday, dan came into london from brighton with lovely wife anna and strapping lad sam. i am part of anna’s art collective in brighton though i’m very behind in my duties, it’s the institute of unnecessary research and the website i here. i am head of crypto-zoology and anna is the director of the institute. i really like her artwork, so check it out.
we first went to the royal academy of art’s summer show, which was full of very interesting work from newcomers and established artists, and surprisingly, architects! [i went to the tate modern on monday, and they have an exhibition on models which featured many architectural models as/in art, so i sense a trend here…start asking your architect friends for their discarded models!] this show has been held every summer since 1768!
my favorite of the architectural piece was a cut paper grey scale piece by c. j. lim titled the baker’s garden: smell, heat and light which explored ephemeral qualities of built space in a very emotional expression. i also liked the laser cut model of a gem cut building, though not sure a potentially mass produced model could work as art as i’d rather see it in the gift shop at a more affordable price or as a accessible limited edition. most of the work in the show is for sale, so it’s really an amazing blend of gallery in a museum setting. i think i’ll submit some work for next year’s show, maybe see if they’ll accept a nooka [or at least sell nook in their gift shop. sorry to plug but remember, this is my nooka blog☺].
tracey emin curated a room, which was spectacular. the silhouette piece by tim nobel and sue webster called pink narcissus (version 1) is everything i like in an art piece, provocative, whimsical, challenging, and full of good craft (and pretty penises of all sizes).
other pieces of note or just ones i like are by julian opie, and photos of large scale sculpture where the medium was an actual building. there was a nice egg by jeff koones as well. the show is up until august 17th, so if you’re in london it’s worth the admission charge [it really should be free admission, but it’s not]. the royal academy website is here. tell them nooka sent ya!
we then walked all the way to the serpentine gallery to see the summer pavilion [an outdoor pavilion commissioned by the serpentine each year and designed by a different architect. this year is by frank gehry. it opens june 20th so we got to see it almost finished. we were then treated to a show by richard prince, another artist who’s work i really like. more information on the serpentine gallery here, located in the beautiful hyde park and also well worth the walk from anywhere [you can take mass transit as well, but i like to walk in london. next trip i’ll rent a bike].
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