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Episode 1: 6 Must See Exhibitions in London Summer 2023
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Six Exhibitions to See in London Summer 2023
In this first episode Vyki and Catherine share the six London exhibitions that they are most excited about this summer and one that disappointed them. Find out why Catherine might have stuck at English A level if all literary criticism was as lyrical as Anselm Kiefer Finnegans Wake at White Cube. Discover fabulous frocks and a royal palace with Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace. See how sequins can be both beautiful and a form of protest with Ashish: Fall in Love and be More Tender at the William Morris Gallery. Is it worth paying to see an exhibition for just one room at Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian at Tate Modern? Why were we disappointed by Dear Earth at the Hayward Gallery? Will we ever get organised enough to see the exhibition all our friends rave about Berthe Morisot at the Dulwich Picture Gallery?
Mentioned in This Episode
Exhibitions:
• Anselm Kiefer - Finnegans Wake at White Cube Bermondsey
• Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace
• Ashish: Fall in Love and Be More Tender at the William Morris Gallery
• Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life at Tate Modern
• Dear Earth at the Hayward Gallery
• Berthe Morisot at the Dulwich Picture Gallery
Podcast
Music
Positive Hip-Hop by MaxKoMusic from Chosic
Resources
• Review The Exhibitionists
• Subscribe to The Exhibitionists
Websites
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Exhibitionists Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome, fellow culturers, to the Exhibitionists podcast. I'm Catherine from Cultural Wednesday. And I'm Vicky from Museum Month. Together, we are co-hosts on this friendly, insider's guide to the best exhibitions, museums and historic places to visit in London and beyond. Between us, we visit hundreds of cultural places a year. We're here to share what we've seen so you know what's worth the travel.
Top Summer Exhibitions in London 2023
00:00:27
Speaker
So get ready to fuel your curiosity and wanderlust with the Exhibitionists.
00:00:32
Speaker
This week, we're taking a look at the best exhibitions to see in London this summer, 2023. But first, how are you, Vicki? Oh, I'm all right, Catherine. I'm very excited that we're in front of a microphone for the first time and ready to talk about all things culture. Absolutely.
Anselm Kiefer at White Cube
00:00:51
Speaker
Well, my
00:00:53
Speaker
First exhibition that I would like to talk about is Anselm Kiefer Finnegan's Wake. Oh, what a fantastic choice. Have you seen it? Yes, I saw it last week and I absolutely was blown away. But yeah, maybe you could describe it for people who haven't seen it yet. It is. It's you just you walk into a long corridor filled with it looks like post-industrial waste.
00:01:23
Speaker
and then the odd sort of double helix. And then there are rooms that lead off that have beautiful paintings. And in the middle of each room is more post-industrial waste. It's amazing. It's his response to Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce, which is possibly one of the nastiest, not nastiest, worst books I've ever read.
00:01:51
Speaker
But at least you've read it, Catherine. Yeah, no, I did. I read it when I was reasonably young and at a time when I always finished every book I started. And I waded through it and there were flashes of brilliance that gave you hope. And then you just waded through more treacle, really. And it's the best piece of literary criticism I've ever seen.
00:02:17
Speaker
Well, I've not read it and you definitely don't have to read it for the show. It's Kiefer's kind of response to the book, which he says, I think he says he's never finished or if so never understood, but has stayed with him for many, many decades. And so you don't have had to have read the book or know anything about it. I think it really does speak for itself. It's quite an immersive space to walk into, you know, when you walk through the leg curtains,
00:02:44
Speaker
And like you said, you've got all this racking, which kind of reminded me of a museum store, but a very dusty, not like any museum store I've ever seen. It's full of these artworks, these kind of sculptures and sort of motifs that you might have seen in his other works. But then like you said, off there in the rooms that you see, there's one with that giant pile of sands and shopping trolleys. And then there's the one where it's almost like a kind of concrete bunker has
00:03:14
Speaker
you know, kind of being demolished and chucked in the middle of the floor with a lot of barbed wire around it. But it's kind of, it's very beautiful and kind of contemplative and moving even within this kind of post-war dereliction in some ways. Yeah, no, it's just marvellous. I really sort of, I didn't know what to expect before I walked in and walked out with a huge grin on my face
00:03:44
Speaker
And it's free. I mean, so that always aids the grinning with joy when you walk out of anywhere. And it's got, I think, paintings because I think before I've seen some of his works, but not really understood them. But once you see it in this kind of space, you really start to see how they, about his paintings and how they work together. You know, the room where he had, was it 12 canvas? Yes. All together. And they were just these giant, thick, rich canvas, which are
00:04:14
Speaker
you know, not, not quite abstract, but you know, the kind of texture of them. And the kind of, you know, you've got that gold and that ver degree, and then you've got this kind of brown, very thick, it's almost like a like a kind of pottery varnish. And also, it felt it felt quite rural, because of that, I suppose, the green and the gold sort of a maybe a sort of a dawn feeling in amongst all the sort of post industrial chaos.
00:04:43
Speaker
I know we both like a bit of, you know, kind of sort of industrial heritage. So I think that kind of appealed to us. It made me think of the, you know, the sort of Second World War decaying concrete bunkers in Normandy when you walked into that particular room, but also the canvas, the canvas in that room where he had all of the artist palettes kind of
00:05:04
Speaker
coming out of it, suspended from it. That was such a surprise. I didn't see them until I got closer. And then you had all of these snakes and, you know, things hidden there. And there's just so much detail. And, and also he's, you know, bits of the bits of the book he's written, you know, you find kind of hidden throughout the space, you know, they're kind of
00:05:27
Speaker
through the sand and then written on the, there's the room which is very well lit, which is more like a kind of museum store as well with the high ceilings. You find it kind of written there. I just think it was so surprising and intriguing and definitely worth a visit.
St. Francis of Assisi: Spirituality Meets Modern Art
00:05:48
Speaker
I'm going to move on to the next. Oh, should we say, so that one, so Ansel Kiefer runs at the White Cube Burmese until 20th of August and it's free. So the next one is also free and over at the National Gallery it's St Francis.
00:06:07
Speaker
And this one, I think you and our friend Sue, hi, Sue, if you're listening, have both told me you have to see this. So I think you, you kind of had to talk me into it because St. Francis of Assisi is, is not, I'll be honest, a subject that would naturally pull me into a show.
00:06:22
Speaker
But when I went to see it, again, I was just really impressed by the exhibition and just the storytelling in it. And it really brings to life for a modern audience, especially someone like me who genuinely prefers modern art. I think it really does bring together, you know, that story. So you probably know more about it, though. You like your church art. I absolutely love church art.
00:06:54
Speaker
For me, it's almost the perfect exhibition because it's got
00:06:59
Speaker
it's got modern responses to spirituality and St Francis and just sublime art. It's just amazing, I thought, and it goes all the way through to cartoons as well. And my absolute highlight that it has one of his actual robes that he the man wore and it's just a rough
00:07:27
Speaker
woolen must have been really, really itchy monk's robe, but it's encased in this incredible golden baroque frame, which is so unlike his sort of poverty and vows of poverty that he took. I thought, incredible.
00:07:52
Speaker
It was, and that relic was really moving. And it just brought it back to that he was a real person because often, you know, it's kind of almost like a mythological story sometimes. And so when you actually, you know, see something that someone wore that has been preserved for hundreds and hundreds of years, textile is very difficult to keep for that long.
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, I thought that was, I was surprised by how moved I was by that. But the actual, you know, the first thing you see when you go in, first of all, it's got that fantastic living green wall, which just smells amazing. But then you walk in and the first room is more or less all modern art, really, isn't it? Especially commissioned as well.
00:08:30
Speaker
Yes. So you've got the, is it Richard Long on the right hand side? Yes. The artist, he did his own kind of pilgrimage, didn't he? This quiet time and created these sort of circular word poems, which respond to that. But then also right in the middle of the room, you've got, you know, that giant sculpture. God, what's his name? I know. Frantically, man who does cast.
00:08:58
Speaker
Yeah, it literally does one thing, Vicky, that's all you have to remember. I know. Anthony Gormley. That's right, so let's go back. There we go, yes. So, you know, when you say go see Francis of Assisi, it's at the National Gallery, you expect to walk in and see lots of 14th, 15th century church paintings, but actually you walk in and the first thing you see is a giant Anthony Gormley cast, which is inspired by one of the poses that Francis of Assisi is often portrayed in.
00:09:26
Speaker
and then this ball art. And a stick martyr. Yes, that's it. I thought it was amazing. So St Francis is on at the National Gallery until the 29th of October
00:09:40
Speaker
and oh no it's not, it's on until the 30th of July, 30th of July and it's free. So I'm going to move on to the next one and I'm going to this, you haven't seen this Vicky, I'm going to try and persuade you that you really really need to go and see Crowned Couture at Kensington Palace.
Crowned Couture at Kensington Palace
00:10:00
Speaker
I might not take that much persuading but I'd love to hear more about it for sure. So it is
00:10:06
Speaker
Absolutely. It's stuffed full of fabulous frocks, both fabulous frocks from olden times and Met Gala frocks worn by absolute top-notch stars. And it's all set in the state rooms of Kensington Palace, so just incredible, amazing rooms.
00:10:35
Speaker
almost done as a red carpet walk, and the dresses are phenomenal. The work that's gone into them, you just look and think, oh my word, how did they actually even make that? And how did you wear it in some cases? I thought that was stunning.
00:10:54
Speaker
I've got a question for you. How does that, because obviously it's starting from, you know, it's in a royal palace. So how did they make that connection between couture and high fashion today and the Met Gala with the palace location?
00:11:08
Speaker
if I'm honest. Does it matter? No, I don't think it does matter because I think that the premise is that previously it was royals and the court that wore the fabulous frocks and now that's moved on. It's moved on to stars on the Met Gala and red carpets and that's where you see the amazing gans. So I think that that's the link. But
00:11:38
Speaker
just absolutely incredible dresses in the most amazing setting. Oh well look I really want to see that one part the reason I haven't been and this is a tip for people listening is make sure you book because it is selling out it's very popular and every time I've tried to book all of the time slots I could make are in the next few days have gone so but I will report back Catherine when I when I do make it there.
00:12:04
Speaker
And that one, this one really is on until the 29th of October. It costs £24.50, which includes entrance into Kensington Palace. There are other rooms that you can see whilst you're there.
00:12:17
Speaker
And if you are an Art Fund member, which I am and Vicky is, it's half price. That's fantastic. Yeah, no, I'll definitely report back on that one.
Ashish: 20 Years of Fashion
00:12:27
Speaker
Well, Catherine, I've got a question for you. Do you like sequins? I love sequins. Yeah, I'm going to try and convince you to see Ashish fall in love and be more tender at the William Morris Gallery. That's quite a title.
00:12:40
Speaker
It's quite breathtaking. It's his first ever solo show, so if you haven't heard of him yet, you definitely will. He's been a fashion designer for the last 20 years. He's born in Delhi, but he works in East London, and it's got such a great combination of street style, but also high fashion and couture, and also artisan making, because what he's renowned for really, his signature style, is these incredibly sequined works.
00:13:08
Speaker
But they're all playful and with quite a twist. So he takes, for example, a high-vis vest and makes it completely off-sequence. And so it's that combination of beauty, but also wit, which I just absolutely loved. And he takes things, for example, there's a, instead of an M&S carrier bag being carried, it's an S&M very glittery carrier bag that one of the mannequins is carrying. So there's a lot of humor in it, but also a bit of politics as well.
00:13:35
Speaker
For example, one of his works is More Glitter, Less Twitter, which is a response to Donald Trump and his time in power. And also that idea of being an immigrant. One of his most famous works is a t-shirt which has Immigrant on it, which is included.
00:13:53
Speaker
But overall, it's just so playful and funny. There's, I think, 60 pieces in there. There's also especially commissioned photography and a video which explores how the works are made and the relationship between London and the artisans who make it in India as well. And you're just going to go away with a huge smile on your face. You've been to William Morris Gallery before, but those who haven't, it's a
00:14:19
Speaker
a sort of Georgian home, childhood home of William Morris in Walthamstow. It's such a lovely place to go. There's a big park, there's a really nice cafe and it's just a lovely outing and I guarantee that you will walk away happy. You had me at cafe. I shall definitely, I'll definitely be heading east to go and see that one then.
00:14:38
Speaker
Definitely. And for Mike, because I know there'll be a lot of family listeners listening to me. They do have some family events coming up. They run them quite regularly. There's a trail. So I've been actually three times now to the show. The last time I went, I went with my daughter. There's a children's trail around the gallery. And if you complete it, you get a little rainbow badge and it's all free, which is really sweet.
00:14:59
Speaker
And they also have some family shows coming up. So they have a family day on the 29th of July, which is a rainbow story time for Waltham Forest Pride. So if you've got kids and you're looking for something to take them to this summer, this is a great thing to see. OK, so it's at the William Morris Gallery. How much is it? It's free. It's completely free. And it's on until the 10th of September. Excellent. OK. Well, the next one, I think we have
00:15:29
Speaker
differing, differing views on.
Hilma af Klint and Mondrian: A Forced Connection?
00:15:31
Speaker
Yeah. Why don't you say, yes. Um, so why don't you say what number five we thought might be, and then, uh, maybe you can convince me it should be on the list. Yeah. But Hilma Affclint and Mondrian, and then there's a subheading, which I've not written down, which is really useful. Hilma Affclint and Mondrian both worked at about the same sort of time as each other.
00:15:58
Speaker
They both started off as landscape artists and moved on to abstraction, but they never met each other and they don't seem to have been aware of each other's work. And so the dialogue between them in the exhibition was, well, it felt forced because it was utterly, is utterly non-existent. I would have been really happy with a Mondrian exhibition
00:16:28
Speaker
And I would have been really happy with a Hilma Affplint exhibition, but I'd never heard of Hilma before. So I can see that maybe they need Mondrian on the ticket to get people through the door. Perhaps it's worth saying why you think it should be in the six, because this bit I think I might agree with you about. Yeah, because Hilma Affplint is amazing, absolutely incredible.
00:16:59
Speaker
I loved her works that they, the abstraction are, it feels organic and flowing. It's not jagged in a way that sometimes abstract art can be. And the final room is just filled with huge, vast canvases that are, well, they're yellow, which is my absolute favorite color. And it's just a room of complete joy.
00:17:27
Speaker
And so to wander around that room, to sit in that room is amazing for me being introduced to a new artist of just amazing, beautiful, beautiful work. And for that, for me, it's worth it.
00:17:47
Speaker
And this is why I agree with you. That final room was something spectacular. So these were the works that she'd created for the temple that she wanted to do. And they're all about her beliefs about mysticism and things like that. And they really spoke to me. They seem so fresh, just the way they've done. There's so much movement in them and joy and happiness.
00:18:13
Speaker
I sat there, and you could see, in fact, everyone I saw, when they got to the end, they sat, they chatted, they had selfies. I spoke to one woman who was responding to them by dance. She was actually making movements in front of the work, because that's how they spoke to her. And so I absolutely loved that. What I hated was every single room before it.
00:18:33
Speaker
I felt, I didn't feel, I felt it was quite tenuous. Yes, they were both pioneers in abstraction. They were both working at the same time. But then it got to, oh, they, he painted flowers, she painted flowers and, you know, he liked trees, she liked trees. And, and I didn't,
00:18:49
Speaker
And especially the bit about the ether in the middle, it just felt very kind of slow and quite turgid, which is the opposite of what it felt at the end with this joy. So if I would say to people, go to that last room, run around the exhibition, go and sit in that last room for 20 minutes, half an hour and really soak it in. But I think the rest of the show for me is why I'm a little bit skeptical about whether it should make the top five. But maybe we'll put in the last room in our top five. How does that sound?
00:19:19
Speaker
Yes, I think, yes, I think definitely the last room and it's, it's, um, it's of a price. It's, um, it's 20 pounds. Um, so that's, it's a lot for one very good room. Yeah, absolutely. Again, price if you've got an art fun card, but you know, um, exactly.
00:19:40
Speaker
And then, I mean, maybe we should mention very quickly the other ones that we were considering. Or we also need to say where it is. It's at Tate Modern, if you want to go and see the stunning final room. Tate Modern until September the 3rd.
00:19:54
Speaker
What I would say is the, maybe we should mention very quickly the ones that could potentially be if that one's not talking to you that potentially might be interested in.
'Dear Earth': Art and Climate Change
00:20:05
Speaker
We also had a little bit of debate, didn't we, about Dear Earth at the Hayward Gallery.
00:20:12
Speaker
I'll tell you what I liked about it. So it's all about artists' responses to our climate emergency and the Earth. But it did feel like quite a love letter to our planet, which I quite liked. And there was, for a subject which can often be quite depressing, I thought there were moments of real sort of joy and happiness.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. It was Cornelia Parker's film, that's right, with the children who were six and seven talking about, you know, the world and they just had that, it was just witty and kind of full of hope and things like that. And there were moments that were just like that. And there's also one bit which actually made me cry, which was the installation video upstairs where you had
00:20:58
Speaker
the kind of mapping on the left-hand side of the destruction of the rainforest. Is it the mining? Yes. And then you had such a direct piece to camera by this communal leader who was just making an appeal. He was like, don't just come here.
00:21:18
Speaker
and film our destruction, come here and give us health, give us support, fight for us. And it was so direct that actually brought tears to my eyes. So I think in many ways it was very powerful.
00:21:30
Speaker
But, and I liked that they gave enough, like a room to an artist, there was enough space to explore an artist's work. I just didn't feel it really hung together, you know, as kind of overall as a show. I think The Hayward has been, it does such brilliant shows that are so memorable and innovative. For me, this just didn't feel like it quite hit what I normally expect. For me, the highlight was Birdwatching 3, Up on the Roof.
00:21:59
Speaker
with all which individual bird's eyes sort of in the shape of an eye. And then there's also, I think there's going to be projections onto the wall or the outside wall of the Hayward. So you'll be able to see that as you come across from Waterloo Bridge, but I haven't been across. Did you speak into, so when you speak into the eye, did you speak into the microphone? No, I didn't speak into the microphone.
00:22:24
Speaker
So on the roof, you've got these eyes, but there's a microphone with a light chin, like a dish holding a microphone and light chin. And when you speak into it, it translates it into birdsong. And I think it's from London Zoo. And so that's quite a fun little interactive for kids and for adults. So you'll have to go back and speak bird at some point, maybe. Absolutely.
00:22:51
Speaker
I'm a member of the South Bank, so I can pop into the Heywood at any point, so I shall definitely do that. That sounds good. Was there any others that we thought maybe might make our list?
Berthe Morisot: The Female Impressionist
00:23:02
Speaker
There's one that I haven't been to, and everybody I've spoken to says it's absolutely marvellous, which is Bert Morisot. Not sure how you pronounce it.
00:23:16
Speaker
I have heard such good things about this. So maybe our sixth one should be one that we are both excited to go and see. Maybe we should make a promise that we will both go and see it. Absolutely. We need to get our diaries out after this and set a date. Definitely. But what can you tell me about this show? She was the only female member of the Impressionist group.
00:23:38
Speaker
That's quite nice because I think a part of the thing with the Impressionism, and again, maybe this relates back to what we're saying earlier about Hiltraff-Clint, is you think about it as a male movement and you think about it, you know, very much as the male artist. So to have it from like a female gaze and a female artist who, let's be honest, isn't really well known, that's quite exciting and something quite different. And her work is meant to be just stunning as well in its own right.
00:24:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, absolutely. I'm really keen to see it. And it's, well, it's at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, which is always a joy to visit. And it has a particularly fine cafe. Yes. And they also, again, for my family audience, they have a special family festival called Markmakers inspired by this exhibition. And that's on the Saturday, 22nd of July, which you can book now.
00:24:28
Speaker
Excellent. And so that is on until the 10th of September and costs £16.50.
00:24:35
Speaker
It's been great to talk to you, Catherine, and just compare notes about what we've seen. And I like the fact that there's some that, you know, we both still have things to see. It's just a very exciting summer for us. So that's it. That's our first podcast. We're both huddled underneath duvets, which you can't see. And it's about 28 degrees.
00:24:59
Speaker
I'm going to go have an iced drink after this. Me too, I think. So there we have it, our favourite exhibitions or otherwise to see this summer in London. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of The Exhibitionists. We've loved sharing our thoughts with you and thanks so much for listening. We want to know what's top of your visit wishlist. Come and tell us over on Instagram at The Exhibitionist Pod.
00:25:24
Speaker
You can find me, Vicki, at Museum Mum. Or me, Katherine, at Cultural Wednesday. And if you've enjoyed this show, please hit the subscribe button and leave us a review. The music is Positive Hip Hop by Max Coe Music from Chuzik. See you next time on The Exhibitionists. Until then, stay curious and enjoy those cultural adventures.