Kurt Schwitters at Tate Britain

Visit: 20th February

My initial feeling after being in the exhibition for a few moments was one of sadness. There are these incredibly animated and vibrant works that are kept in a stuffy room, surrounded by glass cases and so much distance between the art and viewer. I thought the separation that the frames and boxes completely killed the potency and energy of some of the artwork. It was a shame because I kept fantasising about what it would have been like in Schwitters' studio with these really alive pieces being stored there and worked on, but they just seemed so neutered in the exhibition.

Despite this, it was great to see the works. The highlight of the exhibition for me were the issues of Merz that were there. I've always wanted to see these and I didn't imagine that they would be so small and delicate, I expected them to be large and brash. I think, if anything, their smallness made them seem more enticing and intriguing. I also loved the collages. I thought "The Left Half of Beauty" was amazing, as was the "Adolf Gang". Collages like Schwitters' have been recreated and the technique has been reused so many times in popular culture since so it was really exciting to see the originals. I loved how witty and sharp they were, and how subtle or harsh the collage techniques could be (and vary) from work to work. It was exciting too to see the recreation of the Merz Bahn.

I really liked Schwitters' sound pieces but I wasn't too enthused by his and Max Ernst's sculpture pieces - but this is perhaps because I'm quite unfamiliar with sculpture. I thought it was a bit unfair at the end to include a kind of legacy of Schwitters room at the end of the exhibition, because I thought that the work in there wasn't great and was perhaps, by association, even of detriment to Schwitters, as it was another artists' work which was influenced by Schwitters, but nowhere near as good. I see Schwitters' work as very heavily steeped in its own context, both social and historical, and although it still resonates and is effective today, it would have been nice to see entirely in its own glory. Maybe a more appropriate link (or one I would have enjoyed more) would have been a look at Schwitters' collage technique in comparison with punk album artwork which he was an influence of.

Hitler Gang (1944)
Taken from "www.wikipaintings.org"

Glam! at Tate Liverpool

Preview Thursday 7th February

My perception of Glam has always been David Bowie, Roxy Music, Marc Bolan & T-Rex, Slade and other 70s bands of a similar nature. It was interesting to see the exhibition display such a variation of topics and interpretations within the subject - things that I would never associate with the topic. For me, it was very much a distinct British music type and music image rather than the New York or transsexual scene, so it a lot of the material was new to me. I enjoyed the music paraphernalia and memorabilia as well as the influences leading up to Glam - some of which I agreed with but some seemed tenuous!

I did think that some of the artworks weren't great. I particularly didn't like Marc Camille Chaimonwicz's reinstallation of his "Celebration? Realife". I thought this was quite a weak piece and didn't really deserve a whole room. It held debris of platform shoes, beads, fairy lights and other random objects that apparently are meant to resemble the aftermath of a bohemian Glam party. I thought it relied heavily upon the soundtrack in the room (which at the time was Bowie's Ziggy album) and looked more like an A Level Art collection of objects rather than something to be worthy of Tate the monopoliser.

I did enjoy seeing the Richard Hamilton collages and Cindy Sherman photographs. I also enjoyed the interplay between high art and popular culture because I like to think I'm somebody who values "low" culture as much as "high"culture because it probably resonates more with me but some of the record sleeves and items that my Dad possesses made me question what I believe about the subject and whether I considered the choice to work. In this case, I sometimes thought that it didn't work because it felt like some room needed to be filled in the exhibition so they shoved some household products in there. Although it made Glam feel more accessible and a common subject, it was felt like it was leaving home to see things you already own.

It was really interesting to go to the gallery preview (I've never been to one before) and although it was hard to see some of the art, the people provided massively interesting subjects!

Nottingham - Lakeside Arts Centre

Visit: 2nd February 2013

'Saturday Night & Sunday Morning' is an exhibition of photographs taken in Nottingham in the 1960s during the filming of kitchen sink classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning starring Albert Finney and Shirley Ann Fields. It also contained photographs of working class life, factory life and youth culture in 1960s Nottingham.

I really loved the exhibition. All of the photographs were iconic and beautiful, but that might just be because of the romantic nostalgia that succumbs to photos of this era. The real message that the exhibition seemed to give was a kind of working class mentality of 'us and them' that's so common in gritty kitchen sink dramas - like Albert Finney's character says in the film - "Don't let the bastards grind you down. That's one thing you learn. What I'm out for is a good time. All the rest is propaganda".

I liked the film already, but the photographs of the stars interacting with communities and each other were great. It was really interesting to see where, on some photographs, one figure had been painted or etched round, with notes about enlargement or distortion that were the original plans for press releases or posters. Black and white photographs from anywhere in the '60s have the same charm about them - it's hard not to like them.

The gallery itself was really full. I don't think I've ever seen a gallery so full and especially not an arts centre. I thought it was really great how much the space engaged with the community, which I suppose was really helped by the familiarity of the subject matter as people were talking about memories or naming products or items of clothing that they used to have. It's the first gallery I have been in where there was such a healthy cross section of the public there which I thought was great, and I don't think I've ever heard so many people discussing art with such enthusiasm in a gallery before.

I especially liked the photographs of youth culture - the photographs of teenagers in dance-halls were beautiful. The images were so nostalgic and dreamy. There was something incredibly romantic in the quality of the photographs. They were so unlike digital photographs and so superior, they had a lot of depth and that's perhaps why they were so appealing.

Because they were the real thing, not imitations, they felt authentic and honest and you could feel that when you were looking at them. You didn't feel any kind of awkwardness or weakness even because you knew they were the genuine article. So many people try to imitate that style now and it just doesn't work because it suits the time so well. It was great to see something so honest.