Apologies in advance for the lack of images in this post, it was too distracting to take photos whilst navigating a map showing the work of 55 artists, view the work and hold a glass of wine at the same time...live for the moment! Besides, I think I quite like the ambiguity in telling you about what was a really exciting exhibition without showing you the images so that hopefully I can convince you enough to get out and go have a look for yourselves. If you haven't read the image above already I am, of course, talking about 'The Open West 2012' at Gloucester Cathedral. I knew the context of Gloucester Cathedral would be impressive, given the fact I'd seen how interesting the architecture of the space was on visits before and whilst its usual to see and experience art in cathedrals it was going to be very exciting to see how contemporary art work operated in the space as well. I was surprised at how many artists (55) had taken part, as well as not only the variety of work, painting, projection, film, sculpture and installation but variety of forms, say 'sculpture' took, from concrete casts, neon lighting, books, wire and object fused hybrids; in other words there was a healthy variety of work. The opportunity to view the work in the Cathedral also added to the experience, with art work on walls, hidden around corners, in dark chapels and down in the crypt. Viewing the work at night added to viewing the work too and everything became basked in a goldeny-orange glow. Discovering the work was fun as well as seeing how that work related to the space and how in come cases changed the meaning of the work altogether. Not to say in the least that everything ends up having a religious connotation to it because of being in the Cathedral, but in some cases it does make you reflect more on, the spiritual or the mysterious/unexplained. All of which can be attributed to art in a gallery context, I just feel that I was maybe more conscious of those things because of the Cathedral setting. Overall the whole exhibition was a refreshing lift and I'll definitely look into it again next year.I've included some links to websites of some of the exhibiting artists, here are a few that interested me in some way:
Really glad that you enjoyed the opening night of The Open West at Gloucester Cathedral, Natalie.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that as one of the exhibiting artists I have very definitely enjoyed seeing my work in this fantastic setting. The show is definitely one to recommend to friends, family, acquaintances and even complete strangers! Well worth a visit!