In just over one week I will barreling through the sky on my way to London, England. When I land I plan to be mostly a sister and auntie, engaging in banal activities like going grocery shopping, staring blankly at my feet on the tube, and irresponsibly chasing my nephew down sidewalks and parks. For me, one of the hardest parts of living away from family is missing out on their daily lives, so when I visit London I cherish the opportunity to engage in their beautiful mundane existence.
Having said that, I do also plan to load up my oyster card, hop onto a tube, and traipse around London to indulge my art and museum habits. Currently I am deep into the throes of researching where to spend my precious time and thought I’d share my short list of potential stops for my contemporary art fix.
I am thrilled to learn that I will be in London during the 20th iteration of this event! I am ready to rekindle my relationship with contemporary clay and this is just the event to help me start that fire. There are 119 artists, and while the website is sparse in details about the lectures and workshops and exhibits I might attend, I am certain it will be well worth my ticket!
The Tate Modern
I will be just in time to catch El Anatsui’s “Behind the Red Moon” installed in the Turbine Hall—the same place 18 year old me once sat nauseated by contemporary art. This work is a monumental suspended hanging “staged as an artwork in three acts” exploring the “entangled relationships and geographies” through the materiality of bottle caps sourced from Nigeria. I am already feeling excited and overwhelmed to encounter this work.
Along with this, I am ecstatic to learn I will also have the opportunity to step into an immersive infinity room installation by the legendary artist, Yayoi Kusama.
I Cant. Wait.
I have been in one infinity room in 2018 at the Museum of Contemporary art in Scottsdale, and that was unforgettable. This time, there are two rooms designed by the incredible creative vision of Kusama. I can feel my heart moving faster as I think of this.
The Tate Britain
Once upon a time I used to make a point of going to the Tate Britain every time I was in London. It was walking distance from where my sisters lived, and I enjoyed the luxury of wandering over saying hello to my old friends the Pre-Raphaelites and Morning after a Stormy Night by Constable. However, in wake of the “institutional reckonings” during the civil protests of 2020, Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad drew attention to the presence of a racist mural in a basement dining room and started a petition to have it removed. After signing this petition, I decided to boycott Tate Britain until it was addressed. The mural has been closed since 2020, and only this past month, on March 12th, has it been reopened—this time with a work alongside it to contextualize the racism and harm.
It is possible that this is the year I return to the Tate Britain. If I do cross the threshold again, I don’t know that I’ll check out the mural, but I will watch the contextualizing film by Keith Piper. Along with that I wouldn’t mind saying hello to my favorite paintings—plus I am always open to making new friends.
Speaking of museums who are and should be called out for their legacies of harmful and racist legacies… There is a performance at The British Museum I would love to take in by storyteller Jan Blake on April 21st. While it is not exactly contemporary art, I am including it here because I feel quite strongly that the practice of storytelling is a sister practice to performance art. And, as I mentioned in my last Saturday post, theatrical performances are also real.
The National Portrait Gallery
I have never been to the National Portrait Gallery. In my defense, it sits across from Trafalgar Square. This means it is competing with the lions, pigeons and bookstores that line Charing Cross for my precious attention. And portraits? I can’t say I have ever been naturally drawn to look at what I assumed were a bunch of pictures of wealthy aristocratic folks.
Well, this might be the year.
On view currently is an exhibition called, “The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure, curated by Ekow Eshun. In his introduction to the show he talks about offering the viewer a chance to look subjectively through the exhibit. So, instead of “looking at” the work, he talks about “looking through” of the eyes of the subject—the black figure. Of all the exhibits I might attend to introduce me to the National Portrait Gallery, this feels like a wonderful exhibit to form my first introduction.
It is possible I will not get to all of these amazing exhibits and events–and to think this is just the tip of the iceberg! Nevertheless, it is fun to research what is happening, and know what all is an option during my visit. While mostly I hope to just be a regular human doing regular things, I do look forward to dipping my toes into the fast paced, world class art scene that London offers–and then writing about it while it is fresh on my mind!
Alexandra Ross Works 