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Big names feature highly in the selection of art reviews on The Arts Desk this week, although this doesn't always guarantee satisfaction.
We start away from the London galleries in Bath, for something a little different from Thomas Gainsborough. The painter was famed as the leading portraitist in the 18th century, but he also had a passion for painting imagined landscapes. The exhibition 'Gainsborough's Landscapes: Themes and Variations' at the Holburne Museum give a marvellously rich overview of the artist's work.
Sarah Kent was disappointed in her art review of 'Barry Flanagan: Early Works 1965-1982' at Tate Britain, as although his career began thrillingly enough, it gradually went off the boil. Flanagan began working as a true exploratory sensualist and made fun, inventive works using different materials and processes. He soon began to rely on mass-produced works, which have none of the probing and investigative energy that once made him so radical and interesting.
Back in the London galleries now and Pipilotti Rist's exhibition 'Eyeball Massage' at the Hayward Gallery had a feel-good factor about it. Viewers are offered a chandelier made of white knickers and various video projections including graphic close-ups of the female body and a woman behaving like an animal. In this permissive setting, without the presence of any particular strict constraints to kick against though, it lacked the desired impact.
The exhibition 'Frank Stella: Connections' at Haunch of Venison left Josh Spero feeling unmoved by Stella's acclaimed works of Abstract Expressionism. In his ground-breaking experiments with planes, depth, colour fields, angles and three-dimensional painting, the artist is undeniably asking all the right questions about what art can do and what it can represent. It focuses on the gradual development and creation of just two major works, but the human element was entirely missing and the questions being asked were purely academic.
We start away from the London galleries in Bath, for something a little different from Thomas Gainsborough. The painter was famed as the leading portraitist in the 18th century, but he also had a passion for painting imagined landscapes. The exhibition 'Gainsborough's Landscapes: Themes and Variations' at the Holburne Museum give a marvellously rich overview of the artist's work.
Sarah Kent was disappointed in her art review of 'Barry Flanagan: Early Works 1965-1982' at Tate Britain, as although his career began thrillingly enough, it gradually went off the boil. Flanagan began working as a true exploratory sensualist and made fun, inventive works using different materials and processes. He soon began to rely on mass-produced works, which have none of the probing and investigative energy that once made him so radical and interesting.
Back in the London galleries now and Pipilotti Rist's exhibition 'Eyeball Massage' at the Hayward Gallery had a feel-good factor about it. Viewers are offered a chandelier made of white knickers and various video projections including graphic close-ups of the female body and a woman behaving like an animal. In this permissive setting, without the presence of any particular strict constraints to kick against though, it lacked the desired impact.
The exhibition 'Frank Stella: Connections' at Haunch of Venison left Josh Spero feeling unmoved by Stella's acclaimed works of Abstract Expressionism. In his ground-breaking experiments with planes, depth, colour fields, angles and three-dimensional painting, the artist is undeniably asking all the right questions about what art can do and what it can represent. It focuses on the gradual development and creation of just two major works, but the human element was entirely missing and the questions being asked were purely academic.
About the Author:
Steve Alexander writes about the latest offerings from the top London galleries. For the latest art review from exhibitions across the capital, visit theartsdesk.com.
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