Eva’s Art Digest : Week of October 26

I thought it was a good idea to write a short summary of my weekly art visits, and to show you my highlights through some pictures or videos.  To do so every Monday I will share with you my peaks and lows of the previous week.

This week on the digest you will mostly see pics from my visit at the Tate Britain. I love this museum, way less crowded that the Tate Modern or the National Gallery (probably due to its less central location), you can enjoy a peaceful walk through the different galleries from the Pre-Raphaelite (always a pleasure to admire “Ophelia” by John Everett Millais in the flesh) to Tracy Emin’s controversial (nasty) bed. After the visit, we sat in the court of the Chelsea College of Arts and Design to have a look at the huge wooden structures some students were working on, they explained us that they had the opportunity to design a firework display to celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead (the event will be held tonight).

I also visited the Simon Lee Gallery to see Austrian artist Heimo Zobernig‘s hypnotic exhibition : “In this most recent series of paintings the importance and complexity of the conceptual relationship of painting to screen breaks new ground. The surfaces of the works, each 2 metres square, are made up of tesserae which recall the pixels of low resolution 1980s video screens.“* It was my first time at the gallery and I must say that the staff was really friendly and took the time to present the exhibition. The show is on until November 14.

My other high of the week was my visit at the Chisenhale Gallery. Located in a 30’s veneer factory at the very end of  East London, this art space is probably one of the most interesting in the city. It’s important to say that it’s a registered charity with a deep focus on empowering emerging artists within the community and on education. They produce up to five major exhibitions per year and each of them is commissioned. On Sunday I went to see Berlin and Jerusalem based artist Jumana Manna‘s exhibition featuring a film “A magical substance flows into me” and some sculptures. The film is over an hour long which is quiet unusual but there is a cosy sitting area part of the art installation for the visitors : “In her new film, Manna explores the different musical traditions of myriad communities living in and around Jerusalem, drawing on her research into the German-Jewish ethnomusicologist Robert Lachmann (1892-1939) and his work in Palestine. The film follows Manna’s exchanges with musicians as she encounters them in their homes and places of work and worship. The provisional architectures of these private performance settings are developed through a sculptural installation, which also functions as seating for viewers in the gallery.“** I was really touched by the film, its energy, its voices and the incredible music. I’m planning on going back to experience a “less emotional” viewing and after that I will write a proper review of the exhibition.

Not any lows this week as you can see. On a more anecdotic topic I must say that I had a good laugh on the all Drake and Turrell matter, and it inspired me for a future post about the contemporary art obsessed celebrities. I almost forgot, I saw some prints by the Broken Fingaz crew at the Howard Griffin Gallery, it took me back to Israel for few minutes.

To follow my daily art visits don’t forget to join me on Instagram at @the_bubblist and on Snapchat at @thebubblistarty. Have all a beautiful week.

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