A number of things;
Was really nice to touch base with some of the great painters ( Rembrandt, Canaletto etc) in this wonderful collection.
Amazing how the Rembrandt self portrait follows you around..Those eyes! But also very interesting to compare Francesco Guardi's expressive versions of Venice to Canaletto's almost static snapshots of the city. Having been, I think I now much prefer Guardi's work.
I was also able to see a joint contemporary art exhibition by the SSA and VAS groups. I was drawn to a number of peoples work for a variety of reasons but a few things to note in particular.
Firstly, on the whole , ceramic work once again relegated to the last room you visit / gallery shop and again, usually on a plinth. However, I was really pleased by the standard of the work and methods used for showing. Some of these are indicated below.
I was moved not only by the themes of the work by Jacqueline Donachies but how it intervened and intruded into a space.
I Found myself stumbling upon an amazing exhibition at the City art Centre in Edinburgh. I was lucky enough to be able to hold a short interview with Charlie on the day.
I felt a real affinity in the way Charlie Poulsen was working and where I felt I wanted to be in terms of conveying a narrative and emotion through the work but also the correlation and relationship between two dimensional work and the sculptural pieces.
I asked Charlie among other practical questions, how he felt about working in two and three dimensions. This is becoming, perhaps wrongly an issue for me. Feeling the need to decide on an identity for the work I make. He succinctly told me that it didn't matter. that if I was making 'the work' then whichever art form it came through in was the correct one and that any viewer would see the truth in the work and they would organically link together.
I felt buoyed by this, and began looking at other peoples bodies of work and began to realise that my angst was unfounded as so many artists work in a multi disciplinary way!
