The Hayward Gallery is defiantly in my top 5 London galleries;
it never fails to impress me especially with the wide varieties of exhibitions
and great artists always giving me inspiration. The gallery, a striking concrete form created in the
Brutalist style of architecture that Londoners either love or hate. Personally
I think it looks like a strange alien dragon but hey that’s me.
I had herd a lot about the “Light Show” which was on 30th of January 2013 – 6th of May 2013 so me and my boyfriend thought we would have a cute date to the exhibition just before valentines day.
The Light Show features works by 22
artists showcasing artworks created from the
1960s to the present day from sculptures to projections.
The
simple title suggests just what it is, a different type of art that shines,
glistens, sparkles, glows and radiates light around the pristine white walls of
the Hayward Gallery. From neon bright lights, florescent mists, staggering
strobes and amazing light water features.
Overall I really
enjoyed myself, but moving from room to room looking at different shades of artificial
light installations scattered around the gallery space isn’t my favourite type
of exhibition and herd few people say “ that one was a bit crap, lets see the
next one”, I defiantly expected more just because I had herd so much about it
before so it upped my expectations. Some of it could have been positions better
for example Dan Flavin’s seminal 1960s arrangements of the neon tubes is placed
pretty much in the walk way to the next instillation encouraging the viewer to
walk straight past it.
I also didn’t enjoy
queuing up for 20 minutes to walk through a pitch black corridor into another
room that was just very bright light projected to a screen at the front with
benches to sit on, we sat there for a while thinking something else was going
to happen or appear, but unfortunately was disappointed.
I enjoyed
Doug Wheeler’s all white instillation, where we had to put plastic shower cap
type things over our shoes and cross a white floor towards a glowing misty
light in the distance that appears to suggest, by the merest adjustment of
tones, an immense of space.
My favourite instillation was Olafur Eliasson's sensational night garden, which reminded me of
when I went on a school trip to France. They took us to this amazing light show
in a theatre where water was squirted out in different directions lights and
strobes shone at it of all different colours similar to the amazing mesmerizing
free light and musical show like no other in Las Vegas outside Bellagio Hotel
which I have also had the privilege of viewing.
