Tate-modern

We went to see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition at the Tate Modern last year. At the time, I didn't know much about her, other than the fact she was famous for painting flowers. And that people get a bit hot under the collar about what those paintings might represent. Was the art world of the 1920s and 1930s so repressed that it managed to get into a lather about some paintings of flowers? And more importantly, are they any good?

Mira Schendel was a Brazilian artist who was active throughout the middle to late twentieth century. She is considered to be one of South America's best artists. Known mostly for her abstract paintings, she also experimented with sculptures and installations. Many of her works use text and semiotics to explore and define possible meanings for more abstract works.

Ellen Gallagher is an American artist and her "AxME" show recently finished at the Tate Modern. I went along a few weeks ago and have only now had a bit of time to write up my thoughts.

Ibrahim El-Salahi is a modernist artist from Sudan. I believe this exhibition is a first for an African artist at the Tate Modern. Much like the Choucair show (which is still on everyone!), it's an engaging but too short introduction to an interesting artist that you have probably never heard of.

Yesterday I went to see the Saloua Raouda Choucair show at the Tate Modern. As it was quite small, I went to see the Lichtenstein show again as well.

This was a show that I had put off going to see for quite a while now. Looking online at the pictures featured in the show did not really excite me enough to get out and see it. I'd seen Whaam! before in isolation (it's part of the Tate collection and will no doubt return once the retrospective show is over) and it didn't really grab me, arresting as it is. However, with plenty of free time this week it was an ideal time to go see it and I was happy to be proved wrong.

I have had a lot of ideas for posts swirling around in my head in recent days. This is because I have actually done quite a lot of cool things in that time, and because I have hung out with some great people who make me think, and because I always have a whole load of things bouncing around in there anyway - space junk of the mind. I was thinking about how to put together these thoughts I have been having about art and about stories and yes, about love too. It all kind of got muddled up and then I saw it.