Arty London

I went to several art galleries while I was there, those that didn't charge an entrance fee that is. Even so, some of the free ones had seperate exhibitions within the building which you had to buy a ticket for. I steered clear of those, and just walked around the free parts. £10 - £12 was a bit steep for me, a mere pensioner who can buy food for a week for that ;-)

There was an exhibition in the South Bank Centre entitled, 'Art By Offenders', it was really good, I was very impressed by the work on show. Every one had been created by a prisoner, an offender on a community sentence, a patient in a secure psychiatric hospital, an immigration detainee, or a UK citizen in custody overseas.

The Koestler Awards were founded in 1962 by Arthur Koestler, he was a political detainee on three occasions. This years awards attracted 5,619 entries, in 56 art forms. You can find out more about the Koestler Trust here.....

http://www.koestlertrust.org.uk/


These two exhibits were my favourites. A collage created with mainly tree air fresheners, the type you hang in your car. They are layered to give a 3D effect, it highlights the recycle theme.

I love this one, lots of two inch screws pushed through the fabric of a dress from the inside, perfectly in line and equally spaced. I love the idea of the softness and fragility of the fabric, supporting the hard and weighty screws. It looks so fashionable too.

More art later, to be continued........