Exhibition Suggestions

Hello everyone,

My university’s second term has come to its end, and I will be going back to Greece to spent the easter holidays with my family and friends. The good news is that I will try and keep up with my blog, focusing on the many interesting art events currently happening in Athens. The bad news is that because I don’t know the exact date that I will be coming back to London,  I will probably have to miss some great art exhibitions happening here at the moment. As a result of that, I have selected my top three exhibitions that I really wanted to visit but did not have the chance. I am hoping to be able to visit them when I come back, but in case I don’t, here they are; make sure that you take a look , be inspired and if you decide to visit them, let me know what you thought!

Momentum, at the Barbican Centre (Images courtesy of Barbican Centre)

“Momentum consists of twelve pendulums that activate light and sound as they swing, drawing attention to the Curve’s vast arc, inviting you to journey through the space guided by your heightened senses. Each pendulum has been meticulously designed and built using steel, aluminium, and custom electronics. The sound is individual to each pendulum, prepared and tuned to seamlessly resonate as they move within the Curve”. Momentum creates an unique environment that has its foundations in detailed research, sophisticated computer technology and mechanical expertise. Yet, the effect is to create a space that feels wondrously transformed, one which you are invited to experience and explore.” (information taken from: barbican.org.uk)

Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined at the Royal Academy of Arts

“Some of the most creative architectural minds from around the world have come to the RA, and we’ve set them a challenge: to give you a new perspective on architecture. ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’ sees our Main Galleries transformed by a series of large scale installations. As you respond to different structures, textures, lighting, scents and colours, we invite you to consider some of the big questions about the nature of architecture. How do spaces make us feel? What does architecture do for our lives?” (royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/4)

Martin Creed ‘Whats the point of it”  Hayward Gallery (Images courtesy of Hayward Gallery)

A survey of Martin Creed’s playful, thought-provoking art.Over the past two and a half decades British artist Martin Creed has pursued an extraordinary path by confounding the traditional categories of art.Winner of the 2001 Turner Prize, Creed is recognised around the world for his minimalistic approach that strips away the unnecessary, but preserves an abundance of wit, humour and surprise.Crossing all artistic media and including music, his art transforms everyday materials and actions into surprising meditations on existence and the invisible structures that shape our lives. This exhibition includes work containing nudity, bodily functions and some adult content and will be the first major survey of Martin Creed’s work, spanning its most minimal moments and extravagant room-sized installations.”
(Information from: southbankcentre.co.uk)

I really hope that this post will motivate you to go and visit these three wonderful exhibitions. If you do, please comment below and tell me what you thought of them, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading,
Elli

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Antony Gormley

Do you have a favourite artist? That question may be very hard to answer. Not only because there are countless artists around the world, also because art can take countless forms. But different artists create different artworks, different artworks create different feelings, and feelings are experienced differently by everyone. So, can this question be answered? Personally, I can’t.

Sculpture was never a form of art that I had a great passion for. I didn’t know how to create unique sculptures, so I was never that interested in learning more about them. That was, until I came across the work of Antony Gormley. His works of art inspired me from a young age, made me experiment with different materials, create my own sculptures and appreciate that form of art.

                                                                                                                              http://www.antonygormley.com/sculpture/series

Gormley mostly works with human figures. Probably that is what immediately grabbed my attention, since bodies and human figures are what I enjoy experimenting with the most when I create art. What is the most significant thing about Gormley, is the unique ways in which he uses  materials such as wire, wood, plastic, concrete, iron and more, making his works extraordinary.

Gormley works with the human figure since he believes that the body always holds the most exceptional part of our soul. Inspired from the Ancient Greece, he is attempting to configure a representation of the gods in their human form. Even though his inspiration comes from Greek sculptures which are thought to be representing a ‘perfect image’, his works look nothing like them. He is giving human forms unique weaknesses and flaws, just like every human body has.

http://www.antonygormley.com/sculpture/item-view/id/222#p5

What I really enjoy with his sculptures is how different they might look based on their different angles. Because of the fact that the human figures he creates are not realistic but free of interpretation, everyone can view them and perceive them in a different way. You might not recognise their human form when looking from very close. Some large body figure installations, may be understood as human figures only if they are being watched from miles away.

And when I thought that Gormley’s art works could not get any better, I came across his permanent works of art. A series of sculptures, created not for exhibitions or shows, but for specific locations all around the world. All series are different, but my favourite is ‘Another place’ (1997).  Spread in an area of 2.5 kilometres down the coast, 1 kilometre out to the sea on Crosby Beach UK,  this work of art is created by iron sculptures, all made by Gormley’s self made casts.

http://www.antonygormley.com/sculpture/item-view/id/230#p6

As every artist tries to challenge him self, this work was made to test time and tide, stillness and movement. At the same time, it was a work of art that was aiming to somehow engage and connect with the daily life of the specific area. Interaction is one of the most significant things a work of art can achieve. Being able to walk by the sculptures, view them closely and touch them is very important. I love how these works of art have come to be a permanent part of that location.

Want to see Gormley’s works of Art Live? Here is a list of all of his permanent works around UK:

• Witness               (2011)     British Library, London, UK
• Transport            (2011)     Canterbury Cathedral, UK
• Another time       (2009)   Exeter College, Oxford, UK
• You                     (2005)    Roundhouse, London, UK
• Another Place      (2005)    Crosby Beach, Merseyside,UK
• Resolution           (2005)   Shoe Lane, London, UK.
• Planets                (2002)    British Library, UK.
  
• Reflection            (2001)    Euston Road, London, UK.
• Quantum Cloud   (2000)   Greenwich Penisula, London, UK
• Angel of North     (1995)    Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, UK
• Iron Man              (1993)   Victoria Square, Birmingham, UK
• Sound II               (1986)    Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, UK