Friday 29 August 2014

29th August 2014

Saw Radical Geometry: Modern Art at of South America at the Royal Academy today.

I loved all of it - felt warm and inspired like when I saw the Lygia Pape exhibition a couple of years ago at the Serpentine (there are three Pape pieces in this exhibition too).

Made me want to drop everything and devote myself to line, colour, shape and play.  As with Matisse's cut outs (simple and geometric on one level - the kind of thing that looks like it could be produced in a couple of minutes with a good painting programme on a computer) when you look closely you are aware of the painterliness of the surfaces, the almost imperceptible differences in the strength of the lines, the human endeavour, energy and sense of purpose, that has wrought these seemingly simple pictures and sculptures and, despite their lack of figures or references to anything that isn't abstract or mathematical, they feel compellingly warm and optimistic.

Much of the work, although from different places and times, shares these things: an interest in shadows, shapes, line, colour, the connections between 3D and 2D. Co-curator Adrian Locke explains some of the geographical, artistic and political contexts of the exhibition in the video below which is followed by Johathan Jones's Guardian review.

You can find Adrian Locke's interview in the middle of this page: 

Here is a review of the exhibition by Jonathan Jones in the Guardian.

Here's one of Gego's wire drawings - the photograph doesn't show the shadows or the beautiful joins made with looped wire.