Friday, 25 February 2011

The Tate at Liverpool

One thing I like to do when visiting an art gallery is to make a note of the name of the artist, when I see a piece that particularly interests me. Then I can google it when I get back to see what other work they have created. I bet you can't guess what these three photo's are of. If you look closely you can see my camera in them. The artist is Yayoi Kusama, and she is obsessed by polka dots. This piece is called 'The Passing Winter'.

It is a cube, like a dice, about three feet square, sitting on a pedestal at eye level. It is made of mirrors, and you are invited to peer into one of the three round holes on each side, and this is what you see.

It's a bit like a kaleidoscope, but you can't tell if the inside is made up of lots of smaller mirrors or it is just a cube with six sides. The walls of the room are pink so that colour is predominent, but I don't know where it is picking up the other colours from. I love this piece, it certainly is dazzling.

This artwork is very simple, but effective. Apparently these steel rods, which have been welded together are hovering just above the ground, and are not hanging from the ceiling. They are covered in plaited strips of leather which hang loosely from the bottom. Then you look carefully and see that there are five or six narrow rods which are fixed into holes drilled into the floor, these support the whole structure. The artist is Eva Rothschild and the piece is called 'Knock Knock'.

Now this next one is very clever. Its a steel frying pan, a copper funnel, and a tea chest. The fork and the piece food has been cut out of the frying pan. It is painted as a piece of bacon on one side and a map of Africa on the other. The upturned funnel has been cut and the metal has been bent and painted to imitate the flames from a camping gas stove. The artist is called Bill Woodrow, and the piece is called 'Well Done'.

Hopefully these will enlarge if you click on them. Just a few of the exhibits at the Tate, I could spend all day in there.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Ilona for a really interesting post. Have you looked at the website for Bill Woodrow yet? His work is amazing and also he's a handsome dude!

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  2. Yes I have looked at Bill's web site, some inspirational stuff on there, and yes, he is a bit dishy.

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