Details to follow . We walked by St Paul's on our way to the Tate , where I wanted to see the art of the three men who dress as ladies in their spare time , ( as I called it, needing a shorthand way to nail it , my memory being so hit and miss these days ) otherwise the exhibition linking the work of Man Ray , Picabia and Duchamps .Adrian Searle on Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia at Tate Modern Art & Architecture Tate Modern Current Exhibitions Duchamp, Man Ray, PicabiaDuchamp, Man Ray, Picabia, Tate Modern, London - Reviews, Art & Architecture -Photographed just before the rain , which arrived as we settled relieved in the members' gallery .
Food and coffee and a view is always necessary before the exhaustion of the art .
My favourite moment was probably spotting a very elderly lady carrying a shooting stick reminiscent of that my Grandma used to take with her to the Hexham Races , and Deb and I exchanging envious glances over her head .
And then an even older stooped man very smartly but casually attired peering at the "dust growing in the corner of a glass " or some such , with his brand new iphone dangling on a string round his neck . He must have been in his nineties .
Part of the charm of seeing art for me is the consideration of how this is achieved . People vary so much . I prefer to be alone whilst wandering though is it useful and fun to have someone to compare notes with and have a giggle with at intervals . Galleries are the funniest of places I reckon . Anyone following mine and Deb's progress would have been forgiven for wanting to give us a kick up the backside half way round ... having looked forwards to this trip for weeks we then spent a good two hours in the coffee and lunch areas ( for both of us food being half the battle ) , and many of our comments being of the " God I feel quite dizzy " and " This space is enormous .... kills your feet ... " variety , interspersed to be fair with some knowledgeable asides ( mainly Debbie , who is herself an artist ) and one or two opinions " Aren't these paintings simply vile " ( mainly in the vicinity of the eroticism room ).
My favourite was of a geometry book hung out on a balcony by way of an experiment . Of course this was one of the works of which it was impossible to buy a postcard . Too quirky I guess .
Once we were done with the three men , I was confident that I was done full stop , ( having frequently before made the mistake of trying to see too much on one day and causing sensory overload and a delightful migraine to travel home on ) but spurred on by water and a reviving chat with a Greek engineer whose children were studying in London and who was fascinated , (as are most Europeans ) by a previous encounter with Girls from Newcastle upon Tyne wearing very few clothes in the Bigg Market on a Saturday night , was able to glance briefly into the exhibition on the third level and to discover the most sublime painting of a woman with a cello by an artist whose name I have now forgotten though the Christian name was almost certainly Meredith .
I'd still given a choice have rather had a postcard of that geometry book though . Maybe I can do my own though ... if you see an odd looking book dangling out of a bedroom window and intereacting with the elements , say no more .
