Our artists have definitely missed our trips to various art galleries in the last two years due to the effects of the pandemic. The Art Department was desperate to find an opportunity for our Year 11 and Year 13 Art students to see important and inspirational work in order to support and enrich their coursework.
So, on Friday 11th, with exhibition sketchbooks in hand along with a selection of drawing materials and their camera phones at the ready, our artists headed up to London to tour two very different popular sites: Tate Modern, and the National Gallery. With both galleries offering such a broad range of diverse art styles, there was material for everyone’s coursework investigations.
Anna commented “…we started our visit at the Tate. Here we saw a variety of exhibitions, my favourite piece being the Quipu Womb by Cecillia Vicuna, which consisted of fifty large unspun red wool pieces which hung down from a metal ring above our heads. The work references the menstrual blood as well as the energies, flows and cycles of nature. After our visit to the Tate we got back on the coach for the quick journey to The National Gallery. This focused on more ‘traditional’ fine art style work. In particular I appreciate the Rokeby Venus (Velázquez 1647). On it I could just about make out the cut marks which were made by Suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914 when she slashed the painting with a meat cleaver. They have since been restored although no mention of the history of this is made of this in the write up next to the painting. This shows how much art can move you, and we got a real sense from both the Tate and National Gallery about how important art is in society. It was a wonderful trip that allowed us to see a huge variety of styles, and we thank the Art Department very much for organising this.”
Annabel said “My favourite part about the art trip was exploring the Tate Modern because I liked the variety of contemporary artworks there. It also gave me inspiration for my own collage pieces in terms of conveying messages.”
Apsara reflected and talked about how much she enjoyed the Tate installation art and especially the hanging pieces from the ceiling. She is intending to utilise some of these ideas in her own work.
Clara had never been to the National Gallery before. She was so impressed with the realism in so much of the art there and the broad range of styles offered. Her favourite painting was of Perseus holding Medusa.
Rebecca really loved the impressionism rooms at the National Gallery. It was wonderful for her to see close at hand the bold, expressive loose brush marks and colours which she hopes to utilise in her own work.
Claudia relished the opportunity to see so much 3D work especially at the Tate. Up until now, most of her experience has been virtual. She appreciated the variety of scales of these pieces and especially how imposing the larger works were. The Tate Modern was an impressive place to exhibit the work and has given her food for thought on how she might present her own coursework exhibition.
Our artists, even though weary at the end of a long day, were exemplary throughout, fully engaged with the work around them, and very eager to finesse and finalise their studies and thoughts in their exhibition sketchbooks.
