Lens Based Media - Day 2 - Tate Modern & Saatchi Gallery Visit

This day we visited the Tate Modern and then we visited the Saatchi Gallery. Both of which were very interesting and had their own unique feels to them. Where the Tate Modern felt more open and free to the public, the Saatchi gallery felt more, closed and intimate.

Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group (together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and Tate Online). It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year. It is based in the former Bankside Power Station, in the Bankside area of the London Borough of Southwark. Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1900 to the present day and international modern and contemporary art.

The collections in Tate Modern consist of works of international modern and contemporary art dating from 1900 until today

The main collection displays consist of 4 wings each taking up approximately half a complete floor of the main building. Each wing has a named theme or subject. Within each wing there are some rooms that change periodically showing different works in keeping with the overall theme or subject of the wing.

Poetry and Dream

This features a large central room dedicated to Surrealism while the surrounding rooms feature works by artists influenced by Surrealism and its methods.

Energy and Process

This focuses on Arte Povera, with work by artists such as Alighiero Boetti, Jannis Kounellis, Kasimir Malevich, Ana Mendieta, Mario Merz and Jenny Holzer.

Poetry and Dream

As above.

Structure and Clarity

Focussing on abstract art, replacing States of Flux.

Transformed Visions

Focusing on Abstract Impressionism and related fields after the Second World War, replacing Material Gestures.

Energy and Process

As above.

Setting the Scene

A smaller section, located between wings, covering installations with theatrical or fictional themes.

It has not been announced whether the current rehang will eventually replace all four of the sections introduced in the first rehang.

We then went to the Saatchi Gallery.

Here I took pictures of some of my favourite pieces in the Saatchi Gallery:

I found this picture extremely interesting yet distressing as you can see army men opening fire at what looks like civilians who are attempting to run from their burning homes. I feel this piece gives off many emotions and captures a very distressing moment, which is unfortunately reality in some parts of the world.

I found this piece particulary interesting because I noticed straight away that its actually an engine. This engine is a 1.8Ltr 4 stroke engine and appears to be covered in some sort of glittery foam which gives it a very eye catching aesthetic.