Tag: Barbican Exhibition Hall

Three Exhibitions In One Day: Kandinsky Watercolours And Other Works On Paper, Birth Of The Cool, New Art – New Era, Royal Academy & Barbican, 12 May 1999

As part of a week off at home, we did a fair bit of cultural stuff. A rare visit to the theatre on the Monday did not work as well as the dinner afterwards…

The Cosmonaut’s Last Message To The Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union by David Greig, Lyric Studio, Followed By Dinner At Grano, 10 May 1999

…but this day going around galleries was memorably good.

We loved the Kandinsky watercolours, but the critics hadn’t been so keen on them, preferring Kandinsky for oils and criticising the way the exhibition had been curated. Richard Dorment in The Telegraph, for example.

Kandinsky Dorment TelegraphKandinsky Dorment Telegraph 21 Apr 1999, Wed The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Brian Sewell in The Standard was even more waspish.

Kandinsky Sewell StandardKandinsky Sewell Standard 22 Apr 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Kandinsky Sewell Standard 2 of 2Kandinsky Sewell Standard 2 of 2 22 Apr 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Still, Ogblog is not about what those expert geezers think but it is about what we felt. I recall Janie and I really liking that exhibition, so much so that we set off later than intended for the Barbican, where we had chosen to see two exhibitions – in particular David Bailey’s The Birth Of Cool Photographic Exhibition.

We loved these pictures. Who cares what the critics said. Well, actually I think the critics lined up in favour of this one.

Adam Edwards in The Standard celebrated the cool:

Bailey Edwards Standard 1 of 2Bailey Edwards Standard 1 of 2 07 Apr 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Bailey Edwards Standard 2 of 2Bailey Edwards Standard 2 of 2 07 Apr 1999, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Whereas Jonathan Green in The Standard fretted that The Swinging Sixties weren’t so swinging for all. Who knew?

Bailey Green GuardianBailey Green Guardian 17 Apr 1999, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

We also popped in to see New Art, New Era in the other hall at the Barbican

We didn’t spend too long on this sweeping exhibition, little being to our taste, but we did enjoy some of the exhibits.

John McEwen in the Telegraph gave it a comprehensive review:

New Art McEwen TelegraphNew Art McEwen Telegraph 02 May 1999, Sun Sunday Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Brian Sewell in the Standard rubbished the exhibition even more comprehensively:

New Art Sewell Standard 1 of 2New Art Sewell Standard 1 of 2 13 May 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com New Art Sewell Standard 2 of 2New Art Sewell Standard 2 of 2 13 May 1999, Thu Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Heck, but we’d had a great day. Yah boo.