Art Review: Picasso: The Mediterranean Years, Gagosian Gallery

I had never heard of the Gagosian Gallery until this exhibition, and it’s not exactly the sort of place you could stumble upon by accident – it’s tucked away down a side street near Kings Cross station, a street so deserted and dilapidated-looking that we were not even confident we were in the right place until we found ourselves right next to the sliding doors of the gallery. It turned out to be a small place of about three or four rooms, with the Picasso exhibition the only thing that was on. The exhibition itself was fantastic. As well as paintings in Picasso’s most recognisable Cubist style there were sketches, pottery, sculpture, posters and paper models. The impression was of someone with a fantastically creative mind, who couldn’t wait to try turning his hand to new mediums. Animals appear to have been a popular subject, with bulls in particular making frequent appearances. One fascinating sequence of sketches begins with a realistic representation of a bull and then simplifies and simplifies it, until nothing is left but a few lines and shapes, which nevertheless still clearly evoke the form of the animal. Most of the pieces are simply bursting with life and personality, and I can think of few exhibitions that I have gone round with such a big smile on my face.

The exhibition continues until 28^th August.

Things to do in London: Peregrine falcon watching at the Tate Modern

You might not think it, but apparently London is a great habitat for peregrine falcons, with 18 known breeding pairs in the city. They like to nest on tall buildings, and provide a natural form of pigeon control. And one of their favourite locations is the top of the towering chimney of the Tate Modern. They don’t actually nest there, most likely because the ledges are too small, but they frequently roost there, and bring the juveniles along to learn hunting skills.

I learned all this from the friendly people at the RSPB stand by Millennium Bridge, who have their telescopes trained on the chimney top so that members of the public can see the birds. One helper explained that he’d even seen an adult bring back a dead pigeon and drop it from the tower for a youngster to dive off after. Nothing as spectacular as that happened while we were there, but we were lucky enough to get to see a juvenile, fully grown but still slightly fluffy looking, perched on a ledge far above the Thames. It is far too high to see anything with the naked eye, but the RSPB people watch carefully for the birds to land and position the telescopes accordingly.

It’s strangely exciting to think that these prehistoric-looking hunters could be perched above our heads at any time as we wander through the busy streets of London.

The RSPB will be on hand to point them out 12 noon-7pm every day until 12^th September.

More London activities from this weekend coming soon...

Art review: Céleste Boursier-Mougenot for the Curve, at the Barbican Centre until 23rd May 2010

This wonderful installation is exactly the kind of modern art I like: it’s interactive, original, and provokes a strong emotional response. You can enjoy it even if you know nothing about art and have no ideas about what it might ‘mean’.


The Curve space at the Barbican centre has been transformed into a large aviary full of zebra finches – yes, a huge flock of live birds. It is landscaped with a path winding through sandy areas with tufts of grass, and nest boxes have been placed on the walls. And around the room, there have been placed a selection of guitars, base guitars and cymbals, all hooked up to amps. As the birds fly around and come to roost on these instruments, pecking seeds out from between the guitar strings, their movements trigger a constant background of musical sounds.

Fascinating as it is to hear this soundscape, it is being in such close proximity to these creatures that makes the installation such a unique experience – and it helps that the zebra finches are just about the cutest birds imaginable. They are tiny, with delicate pointed red beaks and fluffy, prettily patterned feathers, in varying shades of grey and brown. They dart through the air at speed, and chirrup surprisingly loudly for such small creatures, their calls mingling with the more unorthodox sounds of the installation.

Since they have now been in residence for some time, the finches are very tame, and will land, uninvited on visitors’ shoulders and bags. I saw about six of them crowd onto one man’s feet, perhaps attracted by the bright yellow laces in his trainers, preventing him from walking anywhere until his companion gently shooed them away. The sense of wonder was clear to see in the faces of all the visitors.

I don’t know if there was some deeper meaning to this piece, but I believe that sometimes art is all about the experience, and this was one that I certainly won’t forget.

A video clip of this installation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Kz8Nxb-Bg

Theatre review: Money, Shunt Collective, Bermondsey St, London, 12th March 2010

For this show, the Shunt Collective has created a vast and highly original set in a warehouse near its Bermondsey Street headquarters. From the outside, it looks vaguely industrial, some huge metal machine with ladders and walkways around the outside. Then, the audience are led through a door and into the interior. They move through a series of rooms and different levels, where the action of the play takes place above, below and all around. The surprises of each different section of the structure and how it is revealed give the piece part of its impact, so I won’t give too many details, but suffice to say that it is about as far as you can get from a traditional proscenium arch theatre.


The reviews that I had read led me to believe that there was no plot whatsoever, but this isn’t strictly true. It is certainly sparse in detail, the dialogue is often absurd and elliptical and there isn’t a conventional narrative. But the play is based on Emile Zola’s novel L’Argent, which was about a real life banking crash in nineteenth century France, and with this in mind it is easy to see the machine as representative of a financial institution. Early on, a man tries to gain entry into a Kafkaesque bureaucratic organisation. Later, the same character, now a big success, reels off meaningless but ever increasing numbers to show how his unspecified enterprise is growing. Another character tells a story about a man who was desperate to buy shares in “this”, she says, with a wave of the arm that takes in the whole set without explaining what it is that is so valuable.

The machine is an apt metaphor for a bloated financial institution – a vast, incomprehensible structure, whose function is unclear, but whose vital importance is never questioned by those who rush around it, endlessly tending to its hissing, groaning pipes and gears. As the numbers on the screens shoot up, it seems ever more unlikely that the structure can take the strain.

In the end, this show is all about the spectacle. Being at the centre of the action is a successful technique because it is so immersive. Every little detail of the set produces satisfying ‘ooo’s of wonder as it is revealed. The sights and sounds and surprises produce a genuine reaction from the audience. It doesn’t play on the emotions in the way that a character-driven drama might, but it provides an intense sensory experience that never allows you to stay a step removed.