Atul Dodiya. Meditation (with open eyes) (2011) – assemblage of inspiration for the artist. Includes cracked Mondrians, photos of artists such as Rauschenberg and Beuys, quotes and other smaller objects and figurines. There was just something very exciting about the arrangement when I first saw it, in terms of the display format and the use of other artists work within the piece. The work is very much an artist’s artwork though.
Jiro Takamatsu. Oneness of Cedar (1970). Loved the A VIEW FROM TOKYO: BETWEEN MAN AND MATTER room. It was a bit surreal and daunting at first to actually see some Mono-ha artist’s work in person (though Takamatsu wasn’t technically part of the movement). The Lee Ufan work was especially excellent in how it showed the bands of stainless steel in a pile and arrangement in a imperfect weave. It was very open an not concluded. Since looking at Arte Povera I should probably go back again as the room has a Kornellis and Penone. I wish there was just more work in the room.
Dóra Maurer. Seven Twists I-VI (1979/2011). Nice image: makes me think about the tactility of paper/ the blank page. Plays with negative and positive space too. Didn’t think the continuation of this series, with the same photo being taken replacing the blank page with the previous photo, was very successful. I cant decide if I like Maurer.
ROOM 7 IN IN THE STUDIO: PAINTING WITH WHITE. Some very nice work here. I feel these kind of works take a bit of time to really get into them so I should probably go back again for longer. It was strange to see a Robert Ryman in person. I have a feeling Ryman is really great but I don’t think I can be sure till I see more of his work in person given the extreme subtly of his works that are killed by photos.
The Edd Ruscha room was really good too. The Warhol not so much. Why did I pay £18 for a ticket. Boo Tate.
Oisin Stanley-Stephenson 