Museum Monday: Serpentine Gallery
in an effort to explore more of the cultural side of our city, Pete and I made a promise to try and hit up one museum or gallery. It'll also help me back on track with regular posting... it's been a while since one of my #MuseumMondays. The latest instalment (of what is sure to be many!) comes our visit to the Serpentine galleries. Don't let the name put you off - there are no reptilian creatures here, the name refers to the curved section of the man-made river inside Kensington Gardens.
The river has a new inhabitant for the 2018 season in the form of a large barrel mustaba by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. With a repeating pattern of red, purple an pink this is the kind of large over-bearing piece that's sure to become instagram fodder for regular park goers and make regular appearances on our collective feeds as the summer months pass. It is one of those striking pieces of modern art, that temporarily reshapes the landscape, from a distance it is far taller than the trees and gallery spaces.
Elsewhere at the Serpentine Gallery, you can get a deeper look at the work of Christo and the late Jeanne-Claude, their sketches and mockups showcase over 50 years of commitment to the craft with studies and proposals of various installations using barrels throughout the world.
It's a quick zip through the space, worth the short queue which may have formed outside. Outside is the'Serpentine Pavillion' whose artist/designer this year is Frida Escobedo. Her work was a masterful structure of light, lines and shadow-play designed to evoke a sense of both British and Mexican architecture. There are seats inside and a water feature so you can check back in throughout the day to witness how shadows and the sun affect the space.
Over at the Serpentine Sackler gallery, it was a horse of a different colour. Whilst I am usually able to find beauty in all things - I was disappointed in the work of Tomma Abts.
Perhaps it was too geometric and linear for me, I prefer something a bit more loose and organic. Or perhaps it was that in the majority of the paintings you could see the lines where the artist had traced or painted along tape/ a stencil to get those neat lines. I prefer a bit more mystery in a piece. Tomma paints on almost exclusively the same size canvas, so if you're into oil and acrylic paintings that are meticulous but repetitive this may be one for you. I for one prefer my paintings on a larger scale.
Whilst not new as part of the 2018 spring/summer program it's definitely worth checking out the sculptures by Henry Moore and Lee Ufan - two very different perspectives which merge the natural elements of rock with the park in newfound ways.
Last but not least on my #MuseumMonday round-up comes Chucs restaurant, located in the billowy Zaha Hadid designed addition to the Serpentine Sackler Gallery. The nibbles (Olives, Tuna tartare and a parma ham/tomato bruschetta) were all amazing as were the cocktails (negronis and bespoke martinis). The service, however, was NOT. but the floor manager assured us it was something they are working on, so based on the Instagram-worthy interiors and plating I'll give them a second chance.
