London Blogs - Tate Modern - January 2020

I decided after all the stress that I've had lately that I needed to get away for a couple of days. I booked an open return on the train and a hotel in Whitechapel. The plan being to make the most of my Museums Association card.

After getting into London around lunchtime I had a stroll around Bermondsey (amazing coffee at a little shop called Fuckoffee opposite The White Cube) and then headed to the Tate Modern. I hadn't been for a couple of years so thought I would have a look around all the free displays.

The Tate is split into the the larger Natalie Bell Building and the Blavatnik Building, with the Tanks and the Turbine Hall at the bottom. 

I firstly admired the rather large Hyundai Commission by Kara Walker in the Turbine Hall entitled Fons Americanus. This is a 13 metre tall working fountain that was inspired by the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace. Unlike the memorial which is made of marble, Fons Americanus is made of recyclable or reusable cork, wood and metal. It has been covered with a non-toxic acrylic/cement composite. 

The theme of the piece is an exploration of the interconnected histories of Africa, America and Europe. The water and figures are a representation of the the transatlantic slave trade. I understand the seriousness of the issues raised in the fountain but I felt that the characters were a little Disney-esque. The size gives an overall feeling of "wow". If you're in the area its worth popping in to see what you think, its on display until 5 April 2020.

I walked around the Natalie Bell Building first. Starting on Level 2 working my way up to Level 4 then I crossed the bridge into the Blavatnik Building and worked my way down to the Tanks. There were some highlights on the way.

• Yinka Shonibare CBE

This piece was a collaboration with The British Library. Yinka Shonibare was born, studied and currently lives in London, but grew up in Nigeria. His dual identity of British-Nigerian is the foundation for his work. The room is filled with 2,700 books, they are all brightly coloured patterns and on the spines of the books are the names of first and second generation immigrants to Britain printed in gold. All the personalities have made some form of significant contribution to British culture and history. Some of the spines are unmarked signifying that the story of immigration in Britain is still being written. Visitors are encouraged to use the tablets in the centre of the room to interact with the piece, to find out more about the people and to give their own stories if their family has immigrated to the UK. The website is available to view here.

• Yin Xiuzhen

This piece is entitled Weapon 2013-7 and it consists of a series of sculptures suspended from the ceiling. The shape of the objects were inspired by the Beijing Central Radio and Television Tower but when they are on their sides they resemble missiles. The tower that controls China's broadcast media is a 'soft power' compared to the 'hard power' of the military. 

• Sarah Sze

This piece is entitled Seamless 1999. It is a very whimsical piece. I was following a family into the room and they little boy said "Daddy its just like I make at home with things!" The piece uses everyday objects to create the shape of a double helix of DNA molecules, that encompasses the whole room some parts of which move (and set off the alarms in the gallery space). The objects are reminiscent of apparatus being set up to conduct an experiment giving it another scientific element. 

Finally the low point of my visit... I know that the Tate Modern is a Contemporary Art gallery and there is usually something that is a bit 'out there' on show, but... The Tanks.

In one of the Tanks there is an exhibition called Impermanence. It has two pieces that I just don't understand. One is by Anya Gallaccio entitled Preserve Beauty 1991-2003. This piece is made up of over 2,000 red gerberas that are cut and pressed behind four panes of glass. The idea is for them to wilt and fall during display, but I got to the exhibition when they were really furry with mould.

The other piece that boggled me is entitled Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) 1967 by Roelof Louw. This started life in the gallery as a pyramid of oranges and the concept is that the viewer moves it around or takes an orange away. When I got to this piece there weren't many left and the ones that were there were starting to decay. You could smell them as soon as you came into the Tank! Maybe I got there too late for these artworks to strike me as impressive, I don't know...

To sum up, I had a fun afternoon at the Tate Modern, lots of new artists and artworks to discover. I recommend it to anyone who has time to kill because the majority of displays are free and they change pretty regularly. My favourite piece which is always on display is entitled Babel 2001 by Cildo Meireles. This is a stack of second-hand radios made into a tower representing the Tower of Babel. The lights are dimmed in the room and they light up and flash and are all tuned to different radio stations on a minimal volume. It's pretty impressive.

Stay tuned for more London Blogs I did quite a few exhibitions in two days. Any questions just drop me a comment down below. Thanks for reading.