(6A2) Tate Liverpool- Op Art In Focus

Op art in Focus is a part of Tate Liverpool’s in Focus series – displays of the Tate collection dedicated to significant modern and contemporary artists or movements.

Op Art is something I haven't heard of until visiting this exhibition. Optical Art is its full name and it emerged in the 1960's, they combine lines, geometric shapes, and eye popping colour to fool the eye. This was shown in the pieces and pictures I have put below.

The exhibition room wasn't like anything I had visited or seen before, it was incredibly fun and energetic as the colours used on the artworks were incredibly bright and bold. The floor especially caught my eye as it was like one large optical illusion and gave the sense and feel that it was moving as you walked across it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibition, having never heard of Optical Art it has encouraged me to look into it further and think about exhibition spaces and how you don't always have to create something that can be hung on the wall or sculpted, it can be something like the floor or walls of this exhibition.   

(6A2) Leeds Art Gallery Natural Selection Exhibition

Curated by Andy Holden and Peter Holden

'Looking at a blackbird building a nest in the garden of his parents' house several years ago, the artist Andy Holden began the extended conversation with his father Peter Holden which led to this exhibition.'

This exhibition is situated within the first exhibition room of the gallery, the first thing you notice when you walk into the room is this life-sized birds nest that fills up a huge amount of space. The 'sculpture' is quite breathe-taking as it fills up a huge space and is nothing like I have seen in an exhibition before. The exhibition is heavily focused on nature, so naturally the space feels incredibly calming and peaceful, it's a unique exhibition because although there is a lot going on, its not busy or fast paced. The structure/layout almost encourages you to take your time walking around each part of the exhibition. 

The large birds nest creates an all round shadow and reflection of the branches around the whole space, this part of the exhibition felt really lovely as again it was really calm and peaceful. It felt like a special place to be in and a space to really connect with nature.

In the final part of the exhibition was an interactive part to involve children, it was a large space of origami birds hanging from the ceiling. I thought this was a really nice idea to do to involve children but to also create a nice space to look at.