Free Feet


	Tate Modern Collection Galleries About History/Memory/Society Nude/Action/Body Still Life/Object/Real Life Landscape/Matter/Environment


	About Tate Modern is housed in the old Bankside Powerstation on the Thames' South Bank next to the Globe Theatre. It's well worth a few visits, and all the collection displays are free (third and fifth floor). They also have pay to view exhibitions on the fourth floor. Tate Website I visited Tate Modern four times in the summer of 2004 taking my time looking around only one of the collection galleries on each occasion. Below you'll find my thoughts on on the art works stood out for me at that time.


	History/Memory/Society Visited 9 July 2004 Gallery on the fifth floor. There's some great views of the turbine room from up here - nothing like a little vertigo is there? Favourites... Unique Forms of Continuity in Space Umberto Boccioni This is a stunning sculpture - very powerful! Naked Man with Knife Jackson Pollock Awesome picture! An Art of Commitment The whole room. Some very powerful paintings in here, and they're big ones too. Counterpane Rita Donagh A beautiful and moving painting to remind one of things long forgotten that should not be. The bandsmen of the British Army are medics, not combatants, and any attack on medical is totally sickening. Phantom Inspectors Gerhard Richter I always thought the Phantom was a most impressive looking aircraft, they've just got such a well'ard look to them. And this is a nice painting of some. Tree of 12 Metres Giuseppe Penone This is a must see! Animal Farm - New World Order One great painting that says a lot of things! Untitled (Your devotion has the look of a lunatic sport) I really love the title and the intent. Far too many people just follow a religious belief without any questions - and far too many suffer and die because of their unquestioning ignorance!


	Nude/Action/Body Visited 29 June 2004 The other gallery on the fifth floor. Favourites.... Alice Neel The whole room! These are lovely paintings - a wonderful style. The Myth of the Primitive Some really great sculptures in this room. There's also two paintings by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff in this room that i just can't seem to say whether i like them or not - strange paintings! Baal the Warrior Jean-Michel Atlan Unfortunately the Tate don't have a picture of this on line, but it is a truly fantastic painting. The Busy Life Jean Dubuffet For me this is a great statement on the modern human condition. People are just totally lost in the cacophony of all the crap that they allow into their lives. Blend in, they won't notice you, it's safer that way! Monsieur Plume with Creases in his Trousers (Portrait of Henri Michaux) Good fun! Chris Ofili Another whole room worth seeing. A fantastic artist!


	Still Life/Object/Real Life Visited 16 June 2004 Gallery on the third floor. This is one of those galleries where you'll find a lot of the contentious "is it really art?" stuff. Personally i think that wrapping a sewing machine in a hessian sack is taking the piss (someone actually lost the original and made a replacement). Should art include taking the piss? Well if someone wants to spare the space, and pay hundreds of pounds, for a pile of rubbish in the corner of their living room, who am i to argue. Should a national gallery be wasting space and money on this stuff? Personally i don't think so. If that's what people wanted to see they would wrap their own sewing machines in hessian and save the Tate a lot of money, and themselves the bother of visiting. I just do not see how wrapping a sewing machine in hessian can be considered art - make some trousers you talentless pricks! What annoys me most is that great artists who spend months, and in some cases years, creating a piece of art, are being belittled and driven out of gallery space by talentless morons who can think of doing nothing better with their time than tying up an old sewing machine in a sack. If someone can enlighten me as to what all this dumbing down is supposed to achieve then please email me - i'm always open for a discussion on philosophy of art. Having said all that, there were some things here that i did enjoy seeing... Still Life With Water Jug Paul Cézanne I like the unfinished state of this painting. It seems to say things that a finished painting just couldn't. Linen Natalya Goncharova It's beautiful! Glasses and Bottles Amédée Ozenfant In a room of cubist chaos this painting becomes so relaxing in its order. Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Mantelpiece Mandora Bottle and Fishes All three paintings by Georges Braque These paintings are wonderful. Cubism at its very best! Portrait of a Doctor Francis Picabia Looks like something that crawled out of a tarot pack. Very powerful! Interior with a Picture Patrick Caulfield The painting within is so perfect, yet it sits within the strange surroundings. A great contrast! Interior with Waterlilies Roy Lichtenstein This is huge and really dominates the room.


	Landscape/Matter/Environment Visited 10 June 2004 The other gallery on the third floor. Favourites... The Wheatfield by Raoul Dufy. The use of colour in this picture is wonderful. Very intense and childlike, ignoring boundaries and wonderfully portraying a beautiful sunny day in the country. The painting's quite big and has quite a prescence. The Soul of the Soulless City by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson A beautiful urban scene of New York. The train track just draws you into the heart of the city. Waterfall by Arshile Gorky I would love a bottle of what this guy was on when he painted this. It's wild! The Invisibles by Yves Tanguy This is absolutely stunning. The colouring is so intense that the painting seems to glow. My favourite in this gallery. Azure Day by Yves Tanguy The perspective in this painting is awesome. I really like this guy's work. Mark Rothko The whole room! Don't rush through here like tourists. The light is purposely dimmed as this is the way the artist wanted the paintings to be displayed. It takes a while for your eyes to become accustomed to the lower light levels. There's several benches in the room so sit down for ten minutes and rest your feet. Wagon II by David Smith A wonderful sculpture that really justifies its own space.