Well, what a day I had yesterday, probably one of the best days of this year for definite and one to remember for a long time. Firstly off to the Chinese Embassy to put in for my Visa application, collection next week for my journey to Beijing!!! I am so excited I can't quite explain how inspiring this trip will be and what will be created, I organically await its development.
Then onto the Tate Britain to see the new Kurt Schwitters exhibition. I have been eagerly awaiting this exhibit for sometime now after I heard the news about what was going to take place, and I can't quite explain to you how unbelievably moving, inspirational and stunning this show is. As you walk through the Tate Britain's entrance, through the double doors into the first room, you are struck by the sheer enormousness and abundance of his works. As you turn to very corner, at every wall his collages, intermixed with his painting pull you closer to examine a mind set, a history and ethos so poetic, sensitive and thoughtful, one so honest and true it made my head pause and my heart pound.
Paint so thickly applied, cotton so softly adhered, newspapers torn in such a way, every detail of every work is composed with a passion and deep understanding of the material applied and why it has its placed within the form. Schwitters process is so inspiring, and always has been to me. A great influence and lessons taught by his pieces, as you appreciate the life he lead as he made these works and the importance of his ideology in a time when he was deemed by the Nazi's, a degenerative artist.
The exhibition is vast, with every room you enter another pound in your chest, as you see his work move, change and develop collage, painting, sculpture, poems. Everything he touched, he touched with a sensitive hand and with his poetry and short stories a humour that is dadist and entertaining. Hearing him preform his poems is quite an experience!
Words, can't really do justice and in my words can't truly explain the magnitude this man has had on my practice and my mind set, I left the exhibition hours later with a warmth I haven't felt in years and a desire to produce work, ideas for my new collaborative project based out in Beijing. Above are some initial ideas that I worked on yesterday for this new project, more to follow as the process develops.
