Matt Finn: Mother

A couple of weeks ago I said I would visit the work of Matt Finn, having learned about him from a talk by Francesca Genovese of Francesca Meffeo Gallery.  Though a shorter post than I normally like to write, I have made a few notes here regarding my response to this work.

Margaret Watkins: Beauty in the Domestic

Believed to be one of the first woman photographers to work in the commercial world of advertising, Margaret Watkins’ modernist work of the early 20th century often featured ordinary objects.   Watkins lived a solitary and unconventional life, details of which were reflected in her work.

Alison Watt: Light and Shadow

Watt’s meticulous paintings of white objects; folded paper, coiled cord, hanging cloth, are mesmerising examples of light and shadow in painting, appearing more than photographic – almost like the objects themselves are present in the room. 

Homescapes: Chen Shaoxiong’s constructed scenes

At the V&A this week, I saw a work from Homescapes (2002) by Chinese artist Chen Shaoxiong (1962-2016).  These collages of photographic cutouts recreate scenes from Chinese life, but the cutouts have been curated to form scenes that do not appear functional; instead each element is placed within space, making each work to be like an exhibition within itself.

The Imaginative World of Pipilotti Rist

Two years ago, in the exhibition catalogue for Walking in My Mind (2009), I discovered the artist Pipilotti Rist. I was intrigued at that time by her work Extremities;

Photography Centre at the V&A

Opened 12th October 2018, the new Photography Centre at the V&A centre takes visitors through the history of photography, beginning pre-photography with a heliograph on pewter, heliography being the early 19th Century process invented by Niépce.

Patricia Townsend – Creative States of Mind

A couple of days ago, I was shown a photograph made by Patricia Townsend; a circular image that at first looked kaleidoscopic, then cross-like, then moth-like.  On closer inspection I could see what appeared to be rock and moss.  Then I read the title of Long Meg, a large stone at an ancient circle in Cumbria that I used to visit frequently