Louise Bourgeois I Julie Mehretu

Spider I, 1995

To Kettle's Yard, after the Fitzwilliam whilst in Cambridge, to catch the double header of Louise Bourgeois and Julie Mehretu. There was a lovely quote from Jim Ede, founder of Kettle's Yard on the exterior of the gallery below, and with an invitation like that I couldn't help but step right in. It is such a shame that in the redevelopment of this place that the gallery spaces appear to have been sacrificed and reduced. The current exhibition is spread across both major exhibition spaces with each artist having their own gallery space. The works of both artist actually complements the other leading to an interesting dialogue between subject matter and means of execution.

Artist Rooms: Louise Bourgeois

This exhibition is part of the Tate touring programme - Artists Rooms, and includes examples of Bourgeois's painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking. I adore her Spider sculptures, and was happy to see one lying in wait, high up in a corner of the gallery waiting to pounce. I also liked the humour in her invitingly tactile Tits sculpture which I had never seen before. A L'Infini, the large suite of etchings overlaid with drawing and paint, occupies most of the gallery space and contains many of Bourgeois' signature motifs such as the spiral, knotted tubes, and references to the female body. This series from Bourgeois' oeuvre works so well with those of Mehretu in the next gallery.

Spider I, 1995

Tits, 1967

Couple I, 1996

A L'Infini, 2008-2009 

Cell XIV (Portrait), 2000 - detail

Cell XIV (Portrait), 2000

Untitled, 1946-1947

Untitled (Safety Pins), 1991

The Stretch, 2006

Are You in Orbit? (#2), 2007 and Are You in Orbit? (#1), 2007

Julie Mehretu: Drawings for Helen's Room, 2018
Drawings and Monotypes

These drawings and monotypes were wonderfully expressionistic and frenetic in their energy, evoking a sense of the rhythm and colour of Kandinsky even though they are monochromatic. These works contain some wonderful mark-making, and it is great to come across yet another exhibition highlighting the importance of drawing in its own right as an artistic practice.

Artist Rooms: Louise Bourgeois

Julie Mehretu: Drawings and Monotypes

until 24th March

Kettle's Yard

Castle Street

Cambridge

CB3 OAQ

Whistler & Nature

James Mc Neil Whistler (1834 -1903) - Nocturne, 1875-77

I paid a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, whilst on business in that fair city to see Whistler & Nature, an exhibition that purports to show the impact of landscape on Whistler's art, and his impact, in turn, on British landscape painting. I don't believe the curators have really succeeded in this respect, as the show doesn't have nearly enough important examples of his famed landscape paintings such as the celebrated Nocturnes to lend the exhibition a sense of weight or gravitas. Much of the work shown here comes from the Hunterian Art Gallery collection of Whistler's work and the Fitzwilliam's own holdings. The exhibition relies far too heavily on his etchings of various landscapes, but mainly riverscapes of the Thames and Venice's canals. Apart from the Nocturne above, the painted examples of Whistler's lanscapes included are few and quite slight, being either just preliminary sketches or unfinished works. The figure (set for the most part in interiors rather than in landscape), in Whistler's work, also features rather too prominently in this exhibition too for it to be taken seriously as an investigation into the connection between his painting and nature. This said, the etchings included here are beautifully executed with accomplished draughtsmanship and line work. They are very evocative of place, especially those from his visit to Venice. The exhibition also investigates the influence of the then popular vogue for all things Japanese - Japonisme - on Whistler and other artists of the period. There are some examples of Japanese woodcut prints which proved to very influential in terms of composition and cropping to Whistler and other European artists of the period. I especially enjoyed seeing first-hand here the sheet of drawings in which Whistler developed his famed distinctively stylish butterfly signature (penultimate image below), which I created a post about last year, and which you can read more about (here). 

 Battersea Reach from Lindsey Houses, 1864-71

Sketch for the Balcony, 1867-70

Cliffs and Breakers, 1884

The Shore, Pourville, 1899

The Bathing Posts, Brittany, 1893

St Ives, 1884

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) 

Clearing Weather at Shibaura from Eight Views of the Edo Environs, 1838
 

The Storm, 1861

Greenwich Park, 1859

Pensioner, Greenwich Park, 1859
 

The Traghetto, (No.2), 1880

Nocturne, Furnace, 1880

Nocturne, Palaces, 1880

The Balcony, 1879-80

Black Lion Wharf, 1859

Thames Warehouses, 1859

Billingsgate, 1859

The Pool, 1861

La Sylphide, 1896

Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) - Winter Scene, 1784/1795
 

Four Ladies in Japanese Costume, 1870-3

Two Nudes Reclining on a Terrace, 1867-69

Study of a Standing Woman Seen From Behind

Draped Figure Seated, 1800

The Sisters, 1894-5

The Music Room, 1859

Little Arthur, 1858

Butterflies, c.1869

Portrait of Whistler with a Hat, 1859

Whistler & Nature
until 17th March
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Trumpington Street
Cambridge
CB2 1RB