I read today that “the world already has enough clothes to dress the next six generations” which is ridiculous. That’s clearly capitalism gone mad. I think, personally, people don’t need a lot of clothes. Okay, they WANT a lot but need? Nah. Maybe we should take a leaf out of Antony Gormley’s book.
That was at Tate Britain yesterday. There are three figures in different poses in one gallery, and the one above caused a lot of hilarity among a group of small school kids. They were drawing things they saw. I wonder what their parents thought when they came home with their versions of Gormley’s work.
While that was fun, the chance to see a lot of Henry Moore’s work in one place was a bit of a highlight.
He has a couple of rooms at Tate Britain in order to display the Tate’s collection of his works. Given the size of most of his easily recognisable pieces and the size of the collection, it’s no wonder he is so well represented.
There are also some examples of his pre-sculpture work. Sketches and small maquettes are included among the giant shapes. Or, in my favourite example, full size pieces made in plaster and string. This piece, below, was a ‘breakthrough moment in his artistic development‘ according to the information card next to the piece.
There was so much to enjoy, wandering around the various galleries. From the surreal to the sublime, from pre-Raphaelite to abstract, I pretty much loved it all. I always experience great joy wandering around artworks.
And not just new ones (for me). There is a wonderful feeling of unexpectedly seeing old friends when you come across a piece that you know well but have only seen as images and not in real life.
The Moore pieces very much fall into the latter category. As well as a Lowry I spotted from 1955. Actually, it’s been a bit of a Lowry feast during this trip. First the ones at the Southampton City Art Gallery and now the one I spotted at the Tate.
But, of course, I have to have a favourite.
After much deliberation, I think it was this piece:
It seems it was quite controversial when it was originally shown because of the homoerotic implications. And, to be fair, there are not a lot of bathing suits on show.
Which brings us back to the clothing issue and the title of this post.
We have just finished watching Loudermilk, which is a brilliant bit of telly. The title comes from The New Guy when he tells Ben that he doesn’t wear trousers to eat. Without spoiling anything, it has a nice twist at the end of the final episode of series 4.
