Tom Jeffreys looks back at September's arty happenings.
September, thank the Lord, is finally over. After Art World's annual August jaunt to St Tropez (I got left behind in London yet again) everyone returns full of energy and life. Which is all very well but it quickly becomes a little tiring. I mean who thought it was a good idea to schedule London Fashion Week and the London Design Festival at exactly the same time. Fortunately for me, the kind folks at Vespa loaned my a rather snazzy new scooter on which to whizz round town and check out shows and exhibitions and the whole array of sundry delights that this fair city has to offer.
The Good
The month kicked off in fine style with the Kaleid Editions off-site show, 1+1+1, which incorporated artists' books, sound, installation and performance inside the Sir John Soane-designed splendour of St John on Bethnal Green [pictured above]. Then the Arts Gallery reopened with Hands On, my personal highlight of the London Design Festival (apart from the party at the V&A obvs).
Meanwhile Loredana encountered moments of the sublime, even amongst the trendies at D
arren Almond's latest White Cube opening, which is quite an achievement I can tell you. She also interviewed Edmund Clark, whose behind the scenes images of Guantanamo Bay open at Flowers in October.
The Bad
The Anti Design Festival was rubbish, literally in places. After all the hype about subversion from within, it was basically just an aimless mess of ill-thought through ideas. This was probably what it was supposed to be, but that didn't make it interesting or provocative as it seemed to want to think.
The Royal Academy's Treasures from Budapest exhibition was a bit boring, although József Rippl-Rónai's Woman with Birdcage is so mesmerically beautiful as to be almost worth the admission price alone.
The Baffling
Tate Modern's Gauguin exhibition seemed to divide the critics – personally I agree with Brian Sewell that, for relative newcomers to the artist, the exhibition did very little. Other exhibitions that divided opinion included Daisy Delaney's solo show at PayneShurvell – personally it left me cold but Claire loved it – and the Stuart Semple-curated Bazooka at Aubin Gallery. Not my cup of tea (or glass of chilled Picpoul) but Kate thought it was great. The Experimental Food Society Spectacular was also a bit hit and miss – some raved about it, but Naima was left disappointed. Billy Childish's Art Hate was perhaps the most baffling, but Robin Ince seemed to enjoy himself at the Private View, so what do I know?
And then, as if by magic it's October and we've got Frieze and all the other London art fairs to look forward to. Secretly I'm more excited about the London Restaurant Festival and London Cocktail Week, but don't tell anyone...
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