On Sunday we went to the Tate to see the exhibition of Don McCullin's photographs. It is a big, excellent show of his work - review here which says that the work is almost overwhelming. It did overwhelm me; I was thoroughly depressed by the time I had reached the last room, where even the soul-salving landscapes are printed so dark that they pervade gloom. The still lives are calming, but again McCullin who prints his photographs dark, seems to continue to see inhumanity leaking out everywhere.
The emotion I still carry in response to the stark statements of witness is one of shame and helplessness in the face of humanity's continuing, repeated basest instincts. Yet out of this strong emotional response has come a need to work, and this thought:
This is on my list of exhibitions to go and see - not that I manage to see all of the ones on my list - but your post has really intrigued me. I hope to combine it with the Dorothea Tanning one.
ReplyDeleteThe works of Don McCullin and Dorothea Tanning together - that's quite some mind-bender!
DeleteHahaha! Indeed. But, a nice long lunch, and a walk by the Thames between the two exhibitions should make it o.k. The thing is, we go to London so rarely, we try to fit in as much as possible and I guess that's why my blog posts on exhibitions are so detailed: it's a way of reliving what I saw.
DeleteI used to be eager to devour as many interesting exhibitions as I could, and am so glad that I took as many opportunities to do so in my years working in London. Now many circumstances have brought me to the point where I prefer to savour only one or at a stretch two at a time - but I still enjoy reading so many of the catalogues.
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