Newcastle / Gateshead study visit

On 12th January I joined a study group at the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle where we looked at the Futureland Now large scale photographic exhibition by John Kippin and |Chris Wainwright. I felt more in tune with the works of Chris Wainwright than those of John Kippin.

The reflections of Wainwright were an excellent depiction of the changing lifestyles in the North East, showing how the values, work practices and skylines in the area had changed due to economic changes in the 80’s. I remember it well after being made redundant twice in that period! Obviously they have a bearing on the present financial situation, so in many ways it’s an exhibition worth seeing, just for the history lesson, with the excellence of the photography as a bonus.

I found that while John Kippin had produced some superb images, many with juxtaposition of size, age and social standing, some of his work lacked a point of focus. Lots of them would have been a background for an image, but lacked that point to initially draw the attention. I disliked the way he added the titles to the images – I found this distracting from the scene. Why not let the viewer decide what to make of the image? (unless of course the image isn’t strong enough to stand on its own!)

We also looked at works in the permanent collections and the ‘Northern Spirit’ gallery with paintings from the 19th century, which compared with the work of Chris Wainwright. Of particular note was that of John Martin with amazing landscapes which changed as the lighting was altered.

After lunch we went walked to Gateshead to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art to view the exhibition by Jim Shaw. I’d already seen this exhibition and hoped that a new look would alter my first impressions. I’m afraid I was disappointed. I still feel that his work is that of an ageing angst ridden teenager. Shout about anything and everything and do it loudly and on a big scale – Look at me being outraged and very clever! I can see he has a huge artistic talent, but who can make sense of an enormous upside down octopus floating in the sky?

The Baltic itself is a superb place to visit and a camera permit is easy to get – just show a student’s card at the desk which allows photography anywhere in the building. You may find some of the images in Assignment 3 interesting.

It was good to meet other students on the day and contrary to what my opinions of some of the artists may portray, I really enjoyed the day.