toying with my art
So, Ms Baroque finally got round to renewing her Tate membership only to find that the big splash (not "The Splash"; that would have made her happy) of the season is this enormous Gilbert & George exhibition.
And since when did being a scatalogical, anal-rententive fusspot ever entitle you to a gigantic Tate exhibition? (Ms B makes no apologies for the occasional tetchy prejudicial opinion.) I know they're London fixtures. I used to walk past their house(s) regularly. I do think it takes an extraordinary amount of courage to be yourself, and to make a construct of yourself is clearly a step beyond - though who knows. Maybe a construct is like a mask.
Anyway, I just don't get it. It all seems the same to me, their stuff, it all seems to happen at the same pitch: a pitch that, frankly, gets numbing pretty quickly. A colleague said the other day, and he may have hit the nail on the head: "well, maybe back in the day..." meaning they looked, somehow, fresher then. You know, for epateeing les bourgeois. Except that the exhibition is now. This is the day. The bourgeoisie has grown unshockable - or, better yet, in a nifty counterpoint has shown that shock wears off.
Such were my thoughts, in general, until I got an email from the Tate advertising their newly-set-up Gilbert & George Shop. And suddenly it all made a kind of sense.
Bourgeoise that I am I expect I shall go to the show (after all, I paid). Maybe, primed with my toy, I'll have a Damascene conversion.
4 comments:
Do go Ms B! I was lucky enough to hear an interview and a Q&A with them when I went, which really was fascinating. Out of 200 works, your bound to find a couple that you like. (One called Winter Flowers is actually very pretty, without an arsehole or turn in sight!)
In the gift-shop, you will find the Gilbert & George swear box, bearing the instruction "Pay up or F*** off!"
I would be interested to hear what you thought of it when you do go.
Cheerio,
Matt
Fascinating. A gift shoppe? Wow. But when you think about it, everything is mainstream now. What's next? Do-It-Yourself "Everyone I've ever slept with" tents, complete with scraps of fabric and needle & thread? [may have got the title of that Emin piece slightly wrong]
Matt, don't worry, I will go. I also saw that swear-box online and I have to say I do like it.
I'll write something when I've been.
Meredith, no, you've got it right - & the point was, it wasn't a euphemism - it was literally people she'd slept with, leading to all sorts of entertaining magazine articles. That tent was destroyed in a famous warehouse fire a few years ago. I remember those little embroidery kits from when I was a kid! You still have to do all the embroidery yourself though.
Interestingly, I've just remembered there was also a fire 2 or 3 years ago at Emin's local, the Pride of Spitalfields. Hmm...
I've booked this up for our hot night out (his birthday, and our 13th wedding anniverary), followed by dinner at Roast. Sort of sad we're going to Tate Modern, then a "posh" restaurant, when we used to do quirky little back street gallery, and a byo vietnamese place. Oh the joys of growing up.
PS - the menu at Roast looks fab !
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