Art, galleries and days in London

Just to warn you, this blog post is my outlet of my arty, maybe pretentious thoughts (but all the same i hope it interests you). These three things in the title are my most loved interests. Anyone who knows me will know about my creative imagination, and yes it has made me harebrained at times but it's also made me appreciate all things artistic.
In the past I have been to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The National Art Gallery, The Garman Ryan Collection in Walsall, and The Tate Modern. Even though it wasn't as huge and grand looking as the London galleries, The Garman Ryan Collection is definately a favourite. The reason behind this is probably because of its feeling of being different. The collection had sculptures, paintings and posters from different artists and eras, but there was a theme of decay, aging and nostalgia in all of them. For example Jacob Epstein's First Portrait of Kathleen. The sculpture stood out because the raw use of bronze together with the artist's talent created a striking expression on the woman's face. It made me relate to it as a real person or someone i might know. In my opinion, the artwork that gets a strong emotional response from a viewer is always the most memorable.

The Tate Modern was my other favourite gallery. Again this is because things that are controversial inspire me the most, and a classic example of this was Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth, (known by you and me as a crack in the floor). When I stepped over this piece of art last year, I thought I should hate the fact that a bit of floor excavation could be admired so much simply by claiming it "asks questions about space and architectural values". In a way, its pretentious description intimidates the public to think "oh yes, so it does". But again, got a strong emotional response out of me which couldn't help but make me smile.