A Taste of Tate

​I hope you had the happiest of holidays and your new year is all that you expect it to be. 

We had a chance to visit the Tate Modern in London over the holidays. I can't say I'm a big fan of modern art most of the time. When I see something like a cut-up canvas hanging on the wall:

​Here is the description by this painting:

"Michael Buthe 1944-1994
Born and worked in Germany.

White Painting
Weisses Bild 
Wood, cotton, gesso, and steel

Though it initially suggests the haphazard slashing of a canvas, Buthe's work is carefully composed in order to achieve a dynamic, relationship between the grid of the stretcher and the looser, more irregular arrangements of the fabric. He used various processes, stitching lengths of cloth together and folding, tying and wrapping sections around and underneath the stretcher bars to emphasize the space in front, within, and behind the stretcher. He painted the stretcher bars with white gesso to unify the composition."

Yeah - baloney! 

Or Tracy Emin's unmade bed:

​This one is awful. Truly rubbish. Charles Saatchi bought the work for £150,000 and was sold at auction in 2014 for just over £2.5 million.

Elected to the Royal Academy in 2007, and for some strange reason between 2011 and 2013, she became an Honorary officer: Eranda Professor of Drawing 2011 - 2013 at the Royal Academy. 

Here's an example of her drawing. 

​I'm sure you can recognize her expertise and can appreciate the value she brings to drawing. 

Neither can I. 

So, I guess I don't understand art. 

What I do understand is that sometimes, well, all of the time, art is subjective. We don't have to agree.

Andrea liked this Gerhart Richter painting, and I didn't. 

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​There were some things I thought were great that didn't move the interest needle for Andrea. 

I could, for some reason, sit and stare at this Monet for a long time. 

​We sat in the Rothko room for a little while, and both of us didn't get that one. 

There is one thing we agreed on. We thought the exhibit called The British Library was fantastic. The works highlighted in the display are all from first or second-generation immigrants to the United Kingdon. 

There is a corresponding website to this installation, which catalogs all of the books involved in the display.  https://thebritishlibraryinstallation.com/

I encourage you to visit the exhibition if you are ever in London. The display is exceptionally pleasing, and I like the narrative behind the work, possibly because I am a first-generation immigrant. 

I think the display is beautiful. 

I love looking through art galleries. There may be things that you don't like, don't get, or don't understand. I'm certainly that way. However, I always seem to find a nugget of gold in the endless sea of dross. 

It inspires me. 

Until next week, I wish you peace. 

Trail - 81 DAYS and counting