Exploring art through galleries-London trip 10th April 2015

Getting out and visiting a gallery is always a rewarding experience wether it is the small local artisan space or one of the majors. 
The timing of this trip to London was perfect as Friday was the date for the April Late at Tate event. Late at Tate Britain

 "Late at Tate: April is the first of the Speculate series and explores the theme ‘question’. Challenge the way you engage with the gallery space through artist installations, performance, discussion and digital. Responding to Tate Britain and the Tate collection, a mixture of artists, musicians, digital makers and performers will encourage you to explore and question what the gallery space means to you."

It was great to be wandering the galleries after hours and there was a buzz about the place you don't get on a Sunday afternoon. Much of the gallery was in darkness and the main hall was predominantly lit by the brightly coloured digital work of Memo Akten. Body Paint was an interactive digital painting that encouraged viewers to throw digital paint at the gallery wall through their own movements.

The main event at the end of the hall was the premiere of 
'When I see you, I see me' which is a short video piece featuring
the recording artist Wretch 32 engaging with the gallery space
set to a monologue he has written dealing with the meaning of modern day super stars. The screening was followed by an interview with the director of the film.
Events like this give access to art pieces which you wouldn't normally encounter in a gallery and are therefore important for galleries to host and the public to attend. Being open to new experiences in art can often inform your own practice and also helps when viewing the work of other artists. 

The Late at Tate series is a regular
fixture at all of their sites and it is free! If you find yourself in London and near Tate when this is happening again I can't recommend it enough.
Future events are listed here  

  The next gallery I visited was The Royal Academy for the Richard Diebenkorn exhibition. After my experience at Tate Britain this was a much more traditional art gallery approach; paintings on walls, mainly silent contemplation and gallery staff watching for un-gallery like behaviour. The perfect setting to examine and appreciate the paintings of Richard Diebenkorn. The Royal Academy website gives a short introduction with these videos.