Ian Snowley's Library Managment blog

Eastern Frontier

On Friday we headed West, to explore 'China Design Now' at the Victoria & Albert Museum - a survey of the state of art and design in China, using developments in three cities - Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing over the last 20 years to introduce the artistic powerhouse that China is becoming.

It was certainly interesting to see, in the section on Beijing, examples of the 'superbuildings' being constructed for the Olympics (many designed by Western architects), and the changes to the city which I experienced during my brief visit last year. Exemplified by the way that in the last 40 years the 'four great things' (symbols of success and affluence) have changed from bicycles, sewing machines, watches and radios (in the '60's and 70's) to houses, cars, computers and mobile phones today.

But for me the most striking section of the exhibition was the first section on Shenzhen which focuses on design and typography and readily demonstrated how, in a society where the written language is formed from pictograms and ideograms, typography and visual design can be both an extremely effective means of communication, and a rich source of study.

Clearly this exhibition presents just a small snapshot of the fascinating, and (sometimes unsettling) Chinese nation, but despite this I found myself transported back to Beijing for a brief period and thinking hard about the way that we can engage with the great creativity and energy emanating from China right now. Well worth a visit (or two).

3 guys!

It was back to Tate Modern on Thursday evening for Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia - I was familiar enough with Man Ray, and to some extent Duchamp (even then the chess pieces and 'Rose Selavy' were a revelation) but Picabia was much more of an unknown quantity.

One key aim of the exhibition is to present these three artists in the context of each other's work as well as the movements that they contributed to. They were friends and the exhibition eloquently demonstrates the themes and techniques that they shared and indeed developed through their interactions.

The way that they referenced each other (and each other's work) in certain works, and in the way that their individual techniques developed collaboratively over the course of their lives proved to be engaging and thought-provoking way to navigate the exhibition. However, I did find it much harder to consider how their work developed individually as the influences (and connections made by the curators) always seemed to creep in.

Nonetheless, an interesting and fruitful approach to their work and one that certainly gave me an added insight into these pioneers of modernism.

Spanish Magician!

To Tate Modern last night, braving the high winds and rain for a fascinating curator's tour of the Juan Munoz retrospective, led by Sheena Wagstaff. This was our second visit to the exhibition, providing both another chance to be wowed by the creativity (and indeed magic) of Munoz's wonderful work, and also the opportunity to hear more about both the exhibition and Munoz and his work.

Sheena was privileged to have met and discussed his work with Munoz before his death, and to have spoken to his wife and been able to explore his private 'library' to tease out his influences and the ideas behind his work, whilst preparing the exhibition.

Sheena revealed that he genuinely was interested in magic and that certainly helps to illuminate some of the curious and (sometimes) challenging aspects of his work. I defy anyone not to find the work 'Many Times' (100 'lifesize' figures) intriguing and captivating.

The exhibition continues until the end of April.

Fete'd (Saturday and Sundae)

On Saturday we made our way to South Ken' for the Annual V&A Village Fete, and although I did enjoy the Vauxhall Art Car Boot Sale, I'm certain that this Scarlet Projects/V&A event is still the best in the (rather narrow) category of Village Fetes organised by Artists and Designers! Once again there were a wide range of imaginative stalls and sideshows (with perhaps more support for charities this year I thought) all daft but fun - most notably so for me were the 'Ceci N'est Pas Crazy Golf' and the one-legged 'Beat the Goalie'. One advantage this year was access to the (recently opened) new cafe incorporating the Morris, Gamble and Poynter rooms and perfectly placed on the far side of the John Madejski garden.

Sunday's entertainment was the Ben & Jerry's Sundae on Clapham Common, this also felt a lot like a Summer Fete, a lot of lazing in the sun - and a range of sideshows and stalls to enjoy, including a Coconut Shy, Toe Wrestling! and an impressive Helter Skelter (with great views over the site from the top), and very impressive quantities of free ice cream - though to be fair I don't think the Beccles Hospital Fete ever managed that!

What the Sundae also had was an interesting musical line-up including 'The Hours', 'The Holloways' , 'The Ordinary Boys' and a barnstorming headlining performance from 'The Proclaimers', with the Reid brothers in fine tune and voice. As the lead singer of the Holloways put it, 'sitting in the sun with free ice cream, and some tunes - what better way to spend a Sunday'.

Inside the mind of a genius

Thursday night provided an opportunity to catch up with the recently opened exhibition 'Dali and Film' at Tate Modern.

Whilst the focus of the exhibition is, as the title indicates, Dali's film work (including an unrealised project with Harp Marx), Un Chien andalou; L'Age d'or and the dream sequence in Spellbound, it also showcases many of his paintings.

The vibrant colours of these, and the very fine detail in them were a real revelation to me, and they are well worth seeing. The exhibition succeeds in bringing together the moving and still images and really does provide a worthwhile and informative commentary on Dali's art and accomplishments.

Building for the future?

Continuing the architectural theme, Friday evening was spent in the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, for a discussion entitled 'Does Architecture Matter?' part of the 100 ideas season.

A distinguished panel consisting of Ricky Burdette, Jamie Fobert, Alain de Botton, Alejandro Zaera Polo, and Hilary Cottam moderated by Alice Rawsthorn attempted to answer this question with more than a Yes!

Understandably, with a number of architects, and some of those responsible for the planning of the 2012 Olympics the message was strongly that good architecture does matter - but that means that architects have to work hard to get the message across that builders aren't architects.

I was most taken by Hilary Cottam's plea for the human dimension to be at the forefront in design, and Jamie Fobert's retelling of the story of the relationship between our feet, shoes and the hard ground beneath them.

Classical Architect and Designer

To the V&A on Wednesday, not for whatever private event had taken over the main galleries (including Kylie no doubt!), but to the side entrance and a preview of the exhibition 'James 'Athenian' Stuart 1713-1788'.

Stuart was a contemporary of Robert Adam, but is perhaps less well know, he studied classical civilisation, and brought its influences to bear on town and country house commissions, as well as some public works.

The exhibition covers all of his work, and features some beautiful objects and art works.

Architect - take two!

To the Barbican at the weekend for their latest big exhibition 'Alvar Aalto: through the eyes of Shigeru Ban'. However, what should have been a fascinating and 'educated' look at Aalto's work mediated by Ban's experience as a modern architect really didn't work for me.

It was certainly popular with the architecture students - I reckon every other visitor had a notebook out as they went round, but for me it was just too technical. Much of the material consisted of very detailed blueprints and sketches which really aren't easy to study in such a big space or such profusion!

Even Ban's studies of some of Aalto's projects were difficult to 'read'. Sadly the highlight for me was the small display of Ban's own projects on the ground floor and the curved ceiling that had been created to reference Aalto's design for the library in Viipuri (later Vyborg). It was clear that he did design a significant number of libraries, either in their own right or as part of wider commissions. I wonder if anyone has done any work on how successful they were as libraries.

If you go down to the woods...

You might see Gilbert & George - if you went back to 1970 that is!

Wednesday night saw us at Tate Modern for a preview of 'Gilbert & George: Major Exhibition' an (almost) complete retrospective of the quirky duo's work over the last 30+ years.

My title refers to the rather startling (to me) bucolic imagery in their very early works 'drawn' in charcoal on paper, though even these works are described as sculptures by the artists.

The exhibition rapidly moves on to the more familiar iconic photographic-based works featuring the duo, initially in black and white, then with parts of the image highlighted in a single colour - green or an eye searing red - reminding me of the effect of the 'safe' light in a dark room, before ending up with the literally stunning large-scale full colour works of the last 20 years.

The only part of their work not really included is the many films that have been made of their performances, though some of the paper materials associated with these is included.

I had thought that I 'liked' G & G more for who they are, than for what they did - notwithstanding the fact that they self-professedly 'live' their art. But seeing this show, and so much (often large-scale) work together in one place I can see the impact and value of what they do, and certainly I found myself enjoying the progression in the work as I passed through the galleries.

Oh, and towards the end - keep an eye out for an image of the actor Martin Clunes!

An Artist Abroad

A pleasant Saturday afternoon spent in Dulwich Village, taking in the newly opened exhibition 'Canaletto in England' at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

I've always been a fan of Canaletto's Venetian paintings and I was intrigued to see more of his work from his visits to England in the 1740's and 1750's.

The gallery was pretty busy as this was the first weekend of the exhibition, but it was possible to spend some time taking in the exquisite detail (particularly of the drawings), and to compare the works with a couple of his Venetian masterpieces. On the whole I feel the works of London featuring the Thames worked better than those from elsewhere in the Country, like Warwick castle, and I would still say that he seems more at home with the Venetian subjects.

That said, this is an excellent opportunity to see some really interesting works and support one of London's smaller galleries. Not so sure about the capricci that finish the show though!