Thursday 1 June 2017

The Bed

 

IMG_3808Not far from our mooring and in Albert dock is The Maritime Museum and somewhere which was high on our list of places to visit.

IMG_3809It mostly tells the history of Seafaring from Liverpool through the ages. If you like model ships there are loads of them here and mostly of a very high quality build.

IMG_3814Look out Carolyn has a rather large Gun.

IMG_3820A model of a triple expansion ships engine. If only I had the patience to build something like that.

IMG_3831This is a model of the Titanic and as you can imagine with the ships connection to Liverpool there is a lot of information and displays about the disaster.

IMG_3834From the Maritime museum it was up to the Slavery Museum . It was a bit strange as last night we watched the film 12 years a Slave . The Model above is of a Liverpool Slave ship from about 1780 .

IMG_3836It was then to The Liverpool Tate .The gallery opened in 1988 and is housed in a converted warehouse within the Albert Dock on Liverpool's waterfront and as it’s free like the museums were we decided to visit.

IMG_3837On the ground floor there was this exhibition by Ellsworth Kelly. Here Carolyn is trying to understand what it’s all about. I must admit that she did better than me …

IMG_3842Apparently this is a Masterpiece . But how can some old car body parts stuck together be a Masterpiece ?.

IMG_3844I just looked at this and thought what on Earth is that about . Any idea’s ?

IMG_3846This is entitled Venus of the rags and was by Michelangelo Pistolleto…..How Bizarre ! .   This is what it’s all about.  Venus of the rags is an over-life sized classical statue of the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility, with a large pile of brightly coloured, discarded clothes that are heaped on the floor. The Venus statue is positioned with its back to the viewer. The figure’s face and body press lightly against the pile of fabrics that rises up before it, so that the front of the statue is hidden.

IMG_3843Now this I recognise, and would have no problem hanging it on one of Inca’s walls if I won the lottery. Of course it’s a painting by the great English artist L S  Lowry.

IMG_3851The big star of The Tate in Liverpool at this time is The Bed which is a work by the British artist Tracey Emin. First created in 1998, it was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1999 as one of the shortlisted works for the Turner Prize.It consisted of her bed with bedroom objects in an abject state, and gained much media attention. Although it did not win the prize, its notoriety has persisted.

The artwork generated considerable media furore, particularly over the fact that the bedsheets were stained with bodily secretions and the floor had items from the artist's room, such as condoms, underwear and other unmensionable detritus.

When it was announced, in May 2014, that the work was to be auctioned, David Maupin, Emin's dealer in New York, described the £800,000 – £1.2 million estimate as too low. When auctioned by Christie in July 2014, the piece was sold for £2.5 million. What a bargain !!!

                                                                                                            Happy Days

2 comments:

  1. Hi Gary, i would like to see the maritime museum, but apart from the Lowry painting thought the Tate a complete crock of shti.
    Hope Carolyn hasn't been exercising your credit cards to much while your in the city :)

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    1. Hello Lewis . The Maritime museum is a must and we spent several hours in there .Some great exhibits on display. But as you say the Tate is Something else ,but it must appeal to some people ,it certainly didn't appeal much to us.

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