London buses one bus at a time: the return: Institute of Contemporary Arts

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

Institute of Contemporary Arts

The Mall

SW1Y 5AH

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Following our visit to Canada House, we walked along the Strand to the ICA, where the exhibition was Betty Woodman's Theatre of the Domestic.

As always, we asked if we could take photos, and the very helpful person on the desk said she would organise for some images to be sent to us, through the magic that is Webtransfer (don't ask me, I'm too old to understand). But the pictures arrived safely, so this brief post is embellished with these lovely photos by Mark Blower. I can't decide which to leave out, so they are mostly here, but not a substitute for a visit to see the real things at the ICA Gallery.

Betty Woodman was born in Connecticut in 1930, and it seemed to us that her works were a splendid mixture of the modern and the 'homey', like the Country Dining Room. She is a ceramicist, and many of the pieces were glazed pots, with paint and other materials added. Vases were a staple, but so varied that we were happy to enjoy them all.

Along the wall was 'Wallpaper 9', made up of ceramic plaques in pinks and greens. Some were abstract, but they felt like fish, waterweed, tree branches and flowers. They derive from an experiment of hers in glazing the offcuts from her main works

At the end of the bright, white gallery space were the Kimono Ladies, made of ceramic but dressed by Esther Gauntlett, who normally dresses people rather than ceramics.

All in all, we thought we could trace her style back to its beginnings making tableware, while we thought she must be having much more fun nowadays than when limited to plates and cups.