Now Showing at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery -Rose Wylie's Quack Quack

Rose is the artist

One of my favourite venues for contemporary art in London is the Serpentine, it's a great location and I've seen some marvellous things there, as well as seeing Marina Abramovic and her 512 Hours, Ive seen work by the Irish artist Michael Craig-Martin  and a recent self deprecating  Grayson Perry exhibition.


That's not to say that what's on show is always accessible(in terms of the art not the venue)  or easy and so it was for me with the current.



I'd not heard of the English born (and still living)  Rose Wylie before and after seeing work from the US artist Wade Guyton (more on this soon) it did seem at least broadly speaking understandable.

Serpentine Magazine 

Well I took a look at what she'd  created and recognised it (I think) as representational and naive, Rose seems to be well in touch with the current interests (her work references Sport, Films and royalty for example).




Works did not for me have a strong emotional pull and realising that she's now in her 80's was bit puzzled by what she's doing.

I did like works like Yellow Strip that were designed to be shown in a corner - it also works well as being (to me)  amusing it shows people like Wayne Rooney but it's not portraiture and barely (I'd say) Social Realism.

Yellow Strip by Rose Wylie (2006)

Rose often joins canvases together and I quite liked 'Park Dogs and Air Raid' which is two paintings one from Rose's youth and one of revisiting - the work is based on the area of the Serpentine Gallery (Kensington Gardens) - like much of the work on show there are references to Parks and animals.

Park Dogs and Air Raid (2017)

Generally  I like big pictures but here I wonder if it's an easy way out for the artist - the work looks to be without (I would say) artifice.

There were visitors 

 
















There were visitors but it was not overly crowded (with people) the space is manageable  and it was easy to take your time looking around.

Little devils

 When I got home I chose to find out more about Rose and found (via YouTube) her to be articulate and  knowledgeable in referencing Classical art - she also spoke of the way she works from memory and notes,  using text (in her paintings) to presumably help viewers.

Her work is based on her reality with the 'errors' that are  naturally introduced along the way.

Rose though is not someone whose work I would fall in love with but an artist who clearly has her own Artistic Schtick.  







[I was a bit surprised to be set upon by Grey Squirrels on my way back to Lancaster Gate tube station - one ran some way up my trousers!]