Exhibition Review : Somerset house and the Tate

The use of colour in these three rooms would stay in any viewers mind even after leaving the exhibit. Something about the graphics sharpness of the lines in the Israel room mixed with the illustrative, easier flowing caricatures creates such a striking and satisfying juxtaposition of work. The use of light behind the thin, warped shirts in the downstairs rooms of Somerset house had everyone standing and inspecting the piece for ages! Layering is something that repeated itself in many show spaces at Somerset house and everyone seemed equally as fascinated! Large-scale work is so inspiring, it makes the viewer think outside the box, interacting with installations is a good way to train your brain to think bigger with work instead of keeping to smaller pieces of art.

The Somerset House exhibition in London is inspiring, not only with its sheer amount of art but with the extra plus of each artist being from a different country. The cultures represented are a huge eye-opener to seeing the workings of other artists internationally. The focus on nations from around the world this year at the exhibition was a massive shout out to the possibilities of art. The exhibition really encompasses a global feeling of diversity within the artistic world drawing audiences in with displays from lights to graphics line like the bold pieces above.

The Somerset house exhibition really spurs the imagination in a way that I can imagine will push many young artists to experiment with the way that they approach art. From spending the day there even my mind was opened to a lot of new ideas, media and styles which I will definitely try to incorporate into my work. Above, Ben Yehuda really stood out with his illustrations, as did the ‘Mongolia’ room for its textiles. The futuristic incorporation of big sculptures and also fabric pieces in the exhibition rooms was interesting as it’s not a very ‘conventional’ way i’ve seen many artists work in which was alluring in itself.

The Tate Modern 

At the Tate modern we took the time to walk around the permanent collection. These posters from Germany ‘Was ist Kunst?’ and ‘Freie internationale universität’ were two, (I noticed that) many people had to walk back and re-visit halfway through their gallery explorations. Something about the use of so much wording in its alternating sizes and bold font reels the viewer in. It shouts ‘What is art? Think about me!’ and you do end up asking yourself, was ist kunst? That piece in particular has, no doubt spurred a flurry of ideas inside the minds of many people, not only as a historical design but also one displayed now in a space open to the public.

Joseph Beuys was a German Fluxus, happening, and performance artist as well as a sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist as well as a pedagogue. He was born in 1921 in Germany and his early experiences with World War Two no doubt shaped the visuals of his artistic output. In his work Beuys culminates and explores an “extended definition of art,” which is extremely thought provoking and interesting.

The graphic layout makes me think of Soviet style posters from World War One. The lack of colours apart from the splash of colour against a black and white image in the second picture creates a sense of interest and will pull you in to read the information there. Secondly, the first poster, “What is to be done? 1984, Althernative technology versus nuclar power” not only throws out implications that allude to that of George Orwell’s novel 1984 but also how art can conveniently put across an ideology or subtle political agenda. The imagery in this poster furthurs my understanding of how art can be used as an expressive medium with the placing of a worker or farmer in the foreground of the picture, seemingly overshadowing the power plant behind him.

This was the last piece at the Tate Modern that struck a cord in the department of enjoyable boldness. Similar to the German pieces above, its bold colour and striking imagery is captivating and generous to the imagination when you try to piece together what it means. The work in these two rooms at the Tate was all equally as exciting to witness, purely because the work there was so simplistically intricate and pleasing to the eye. This sort of work really shows how art doesn’t have to be intensely detailed to provoke a reaction in a viewer and even these small images on paper will get you thinking:

“WAS IST KUNST?“