Looking to make the best of today following an overnighter in London for the UK Agile Awards Dinner 2012 I decided to pay a visit to Tate Modern and find out what all the fuss was about with this new exhibition.
I was not disappointed. The entrance fee of £14 (£12 concessions) was worth every penny, as were the books I bought when I exited through the gift shop. I’ll talk about that bit before the start of my tour. Walking into the gift shop, one is hit visually by the arrangement of books . There are 3 associated with the show but on the far wall alongside these two greats were books from the AVA Academia Series. Given the preponderance of hugely effective Black & White images that were positively Brunel in scale, it was pleasing to see at least 2 of David Prakel’s books – Fundamentals of Creative Photography and Working In Black & White. I can recommend these books to anyone studying photography or even just engaging in it as a pastime. A pertinent book on the shelf was AVA’s Context & Narrative that coupled with the exhibition books dented the credit card.
The exhibition is broken into rooms beginning with Klein. Room 1 shows a film on a continuous loop of about 20 minutes. This is quite tiring as no seating exists in this room unlike other rooms with films. Tate would do well to install a bench or two. The rear wall is clothed in a myriad of different images that use colour effectively. All very graphic. This does not prepare you for Room 2 which I suppose was my favourite. How can I describe it other by saying it is jaw dropingly magnificent? To see silver prints this good and at the size they are just blew me away. They are very rich in black and with exceptionally good grain. To cap it all most of these images were made during 1954-55. I always knew 1955 was a good year. Now I now for sure.
Room 3 had a very eclectic mix of work but Tate ought to sort out the lighting. Arranging banks of images that catch the ceiling lights detracts especially when one has to crane one’s neck to view the upper rows and kneel down to inspect the lowest. One inconsistency that I picked up on was the inconsistent use of framing material. I just found that the difference stood out and I had to force myself to try and ignore it. Maybe the curator decided that this was a feature of the hanging?
Subsequent rooms contain examples Klein’s painting and short film clips. Cassius Clay as he was at the time featured heavily(sic) and then on to the enamel painted contact sheets. These are a style all of their own. The red, yellow and white enamel paint really transforms these working pages into something special.
Glass cabinets hold early editions of Kleins books, many of which are on loan from Martin Parr. I’m convinced that Parr was influenced to a degree by Klein.
Moriyama’s rooms come next and although the works are are very different they are also very similar. You need to see this for yourselves. The work that really stood out for me from Moriyama’s though was Polaroid/Polaroid. This is an an exceptional arrangement of Polaroids occupying a vast space. Very very well executed. Following that, in the last room are two short films showing both artists. These are worth the time sitting and watching and listening to as they add their viewpoints onto what we have already created ourselves by viewing the exhibition. Very clever of the curator.
Worth every penny.
Oh and a good basic book on Narrative that I can recommend to all Photography students.