Monday, 7 November 2011

Art and Mammon

I took this photograph over the City of London on my phone last week from the terrace at Tate Modern where I was enjoying my second visit to see Gerhard Richter: Panorama prior to attending a private view at the Corporation of Lloyds.

For those of you who are used, like me, to see Richter's work mainly in reproduction the scale of some of the abstract work is breathtaking. But for me the most successful of the abstract work is the smaller, almost domestic scale paintings. There is a series of 8 small paintings in Room 10, Abstract Painting 858 1999 series, which I found particularly engaging.

Room 11 also contains some interesting experimental work including monotypes and photographs worked over with paint, which I found especially interesting as they provide an insight into Gerard Richter's process. But it is a big exhibition covering 50 years of the Artist's work and there are many aspects to be discovered. So will I be back for another look? Probably!

After a couple of hours I took a break for coffee on the Tate members' terrace. It was a beautifully mild November afternoon with the setting sun creating some spectacular Canaletto like vistas over the City of London. And even though my phone only has a VGA camera I thought it was worth trying to capture the panoramic views over the Thames towards St. Paul's Cathedral and The Square Mile.


But by the time I left and walked across The Millenium Bridge towards St. Paul's the sun had set to leave a quite magical darkling sky. I was on my way to the Corporation of Lloyd's, where some of my sculpture was on display as part of the Lloyd's Art Group collective's Autumn Exhibition. At the private view I am delighted to report that I was presented with the Miller Prize for "Best Artist in the Show" by Michael Papworth, Head of Facultative Reinsurance at  Miller Insurance, the exclusive sponsors of the event this year. Very much a fund raiser for the Coombe Trust, Lloyd's recognised charity, the exhibition raised  £2,400 this year for this very good cause. Definitely an event where Art sits comfortably with Mammon.