More London Art

Walking down from Blackfriars Bridge towards the Tate Modern I stopped off at  Bankside Gallery - my first time inside there.
Some nice non-controversial subject matter amongst the work displayed (positively radical by North Korean standards though) - much of the work in the current exhibition is affordable and would grace many contemporary homes.

Compact and approachable

I was drawn to the work of Brian Cook when I flicked through the book Brian Cook's landscapes of Britain - you'll see the resonance with much of the nostalgic renditions of the countryside seen in current 'advertising  art' if you take a look, in fact Cook's illustrations were used to adorn many book covers.

Interestingly Cook  went on to become Conservative MP for Ealing South  between 1958 and 1974 before retiring with his artist wife to Rye in Sussex- he died in 1991.

After Bankside it was on to Tate Modern and after a pause to see the mime and music artists a pleasant trip around the rooms that were far less crowded  than for my previous recent visits and I am  happy to report that there are some changes of display too.

How is it adding up so far?

I still think it's a good trick

I liked the thought and intent behind the work by Russian artists/architects Brodsky and Utkin at Level 2 - Poetry and Dream and I also enjoyed the themes and realisation,s particularly the robot  on display by the  South Korean artist Nam Jane Paik  who died in 2006.

Great to find a slightly disturbing photographer in the shape of the eccentrically named Lisette Model too.

Further up we had some really nice pieces given enough space to move around them including this Japanese work -on first impression I thought there was something North American Native about it (I was wrong it is a Japanese artist Susumu Koshimizu ).

|From Surface to Surface (1971) by Susumu Koshimizu 

West Ealing - Stowell's Corner Now and Then

As part of an interest in how 'not all is change'  I've taken a few photo's inspired by those used in Dr Peter Hounsell's  book Ealing and Hanwell Past.

Like 'the places I've lived in' we can see that things often stay much the same (apart from the ever growing trees).

I'm going to try and get some information on when the original pictures were taken and hopefully look at some other examples too.

Here's a view very local to me - just close to West Ealing Railway Station down past the Drayton Court Hotel.

Until fairly recently the Shop on the corner (now Cafe Onik) was still an off licence and the parades of shops can be clearly seen in both pictures.

How Stowell's Corner looks now

and how it used to be (from the book)

And here's one of  Ealing Green 'Now and Then' looking towards South Ealing  (when it wasn't one way traffic in the High Street).

Ealing High Street like everywhere else - too many cars

Ealing High Street towards South Ealing

( also from Peter's book)

The Design Museum

Deyan's  book covering items we'd all like

Nearly 30 years ago my Mum and Dad bought me Deyan Sudjic's first book Cult Objects, looking at it again it does show how certain iconic items retain their appeal as status desirable items (like anglepoise lamps).

Nice typeface

Well fast forward to yesterday and I was at the Design Museum where Deyan is now the director, the Museum housed in a former Banana warehouse is due to move into new premises in West London at the end of 2016 this will provide something like three times the current floor space.

 The Design Museum is currently a niché outfit born out of the V&A about 25 years ago as modern functional Design has moved into the mainstream the timing of the expansion and a free entry model seems well timed.


While there's a lot to see at the current premises it does have a bit of a challenge trying to cover such a wide remit in a small space, I must say the current location is a good one bringing in a selection  of visitors both tourists and fans of design.

Interesting too to find that a former star Isabel  Monteiro  (seen here on a mix with Thom Yorke) is now on the staff there as part of the 'Welcome team'.

It was nice to see another -of the many public sculptures by  Eduardo Paolozzi (Head of invention) just outside too.

Head of Invention

The current Design Museum  premises

Design Criteria

Art in Ealing - Crossing the field and Bruce McLean at For Arts Sake

A work by Eric Monbel

Generally the walk across Ealing Green to Pitzhanger Gallery is a worthwhile one and in sync with the 100 years anniversary of the start of World War I is an exhibition that brings together the War and the apocryphal Christmas day football matches across the two  sides.


There's a very nice little film about a work commissioned in Ypres from 2003 by Mark Anstee and as well as some other works about war there's some lighter stuff about football from people like Marc Palmer.


Encounter Film from Mark Anstee on Vimeo.

For Arts Sake

For Arts Sake is a great little shop/gallery with a nice selection of affordable paintings and prints.

It's really good they way they feature contemporary artists for month or so coming to an end is the bright and mischievous works of Bruce McLean.

A great little place

McLean a one time student of Anthony Caro has worked across a range of artistic disciplines including performance and sculpture,  the prints in the gallery are (apparently) parodies of expressionist works - check him out if you can