I'm Louise and I guess a good place to start is to say that this blog is going to be about lots of things...the things that I love and the things that inspire me - fashion and make up, home-baking, all things retro and art...definitely art! That's not to say that I'm an expert on any of those things or anything else for that matter but I'm interested and I hope other people will be too!
I should probably say now that art is my passion...in ten years time I may no longer worship at the alter of Topshop and will probably have given up my efforts to master the perfect meringue but art will always be part of my life! Now usually I'm a Pre-Raphaelite girl but last Friday I (and about 800 other people) decided to broaden my artistic horizons and attend the preview of the Turner Prize exhibition at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle. I wish I could say that it was amazing but to be honest I spent most of the night queuing! Queuing to get into the building, queuing to get on to the right floor, queuing to get into the exhibition! By the time I got to see the first work I was ready for a drink but couldn't face the queue for the free bar!
That's not to say I didn't enjoy the exhibition! People who know a lot more about contemporary art than me have reviewed the works on show but this is effort. I'll say now that I didn't 'get' all of the works on show - Hilary Lloyd's video installation, with its pulsing, bouncing cityscapes and clock faces left me totally cold and slightly nauseated and to be honest I was more interested in the amazing view of Newcastle's Quayside from the gallery's picture window! I'm not going to try to describe Karla Back's work except to say that I liked it, I liked the pastel hues and the fact that you could walk through it and under it and behind it...mostly I liked the artist's use of Lush Bath Ballistics! But I didn't understand it...it made me think of Carebears and I'm pretty sure that wasn't what Black was going for!
 |
| Hillary Lloyd |
 |
| Karla Black |
There were however, two works in the exhibition that I loved! When I stepped into Martin Boyce's sculpture/installation I felt liked I'd been transported far from the Baltic...to where exactly I'm not sure but it definitely wasn't Newcastle. The work is difficult to describe and some of its magic will probably be lost in translation but in essence Boyce had transformed the gallery space into a woodland clearing by attaching hundreds of white metal leaves beneath the ceiling lights, filling the gallery with dappled light which filters on to a floor scattered with artificial autumn leaves. The centre piece, a big concrete table with a mobile hanging over it just confuses me...apparently its modernist-inspired but I don't really care...I just like being in this space!
 |
| Martin Boyce |
George Shaw's works make up for all the queuing! All of the paintings are of one thing - Tile Hill housing estate near Coventry, where the artist grew up. There are no people, no animals, just graffitied-shop fronts, roes of shut up garages, wet tarmac and scruffy woodland. Shaw paints a very specific place, but it’s so generically British it could be anywhere! I love the nostalgia of Shaw's works, I've never been to Tile Hill but when I look at his paintings they make me think of home, like somewhere half-remembered from childhood or somewhere The Smiths would sing about! That's probably horrifically pretentious, funny as Shaw's works are anything but pretentious! Everything from his subject matter to his use of Humbrol enamel paint (usually used for painting model aeroplanes) is accessible! Everyone can take something from these paintings...I just hope those still queuing when the Gallery closed at 10pm will go back and seem them, they're so worth it!
 |
| George Shaw, The Resurface, 2010 |
 |
| George Shaw, The Age of Bullshit, 2010. |
All in all I would recommend a visit the Baltic if you're in the area, the exhibition runs until the 8th January 2012, if you've already seen it I would love to know what you thought :)
L
Xx
