tate modern

those infamous london storm clouds rolled across the sky this morning (it was only a matter of time..). rather than stay outside, i decided to duck back inside the tate modern and release my inner indie. jokes aside, i actually love this art gallery. i've been here several times before, the last time being (well, not including yesterday) december '09. as i mentioned in my previous post, the gallery used to be the bankside power station. this closed in 1981, and was re-opened as an art gallery in 2000. it now forms part of the 'tate group' - together with the tate britain, tate liverpool, tate st. ives & tate online.

the closest tube station is st paul's, so it was a nice stroll over the millenium bridge to get to the tate. a funky and fittingly modern bridge, you prob recognise it from the beginning of the 6th harry potter movie.. 

despite the exterior of the tate being aesthetically unappealing (aka fugly), the artwork inside is incred. it houses some of my all-time favourites, such as warhol, duchamp and picabia, as well as a heap of others i'd never come across before.

with a focus on modern art, the nature of the works are often controversial and aim to question the definition of art. (as i'm writing this, painful memories of writing my studio arts exam are flooding back). i had to have a laugh at one piece; 'untitled artwork' by baldwin & ramsden - it consisted of a bare, gesso'd canvas with a mirror fitted on its face. essentially just a 3D mirror, this piece apparently 'confronts the viewer, questioning the long-held notion of painting transcending reality'. yeaaah, or it gives gallery visitors an opportunity to fix their hair...

there were quite a few pollock pieces, such as 'number 14' and 'summertime: number 9a'. he has a really unique way of developing his large-scale works - laying his canvases flat on the ground then spilling, throwing, flicking and draping industrial enamel paint onto the surface using sticks, basting syringes, his hands, brooms and ladles....as well as a tonne of other random objects. click here for a vid showing him & his work.

each and every one of these pieces has a story behind it...so i could be here for hours. instead, i'll love you and leave you with a bunch of my favourite works found at the tate modern.

profitez-en bien,

S. 

whaam, lichtenstein

blue purple tilt, holzer

self portrait, warhol

fall, riley

soviet propaganda

the bride stripped bare by her bachelors, even (the large glass), duchamp

portraits 1986, 1988, ruff

dalam, gill (photographic typologies)

untitled, baldwin & ramsden

untitled (living sculpture), merz

venus of the rags, pistoletto

staircase III, ho suh

staircase III, ho suh

small white pebble circles, long

steel zinc plain, andre

from 'autoconstrucción', cruzvillegas

from 'autoconstrucción', cruzvillegas

tree of 12m, penone

the fig leaf, picabia

the handsome pork-butcher, picabia

untitled, dzama

untitled, dzama

untitled, dzama

untitled, oticica

ishi's light, kapoor

number 14, pollock

bacchus, psilax & mainomenos, twombly

agricola IX, smith

the acrobat and his partner, léger

stromboli, pasmore