MODERN ART, A MOVING EXPERIENCE
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Now this might look like a large bit of rusty old metal to you lot, but to sophisticated folk such as my good self, it's modern art.
The Tate Modern opens to the public on 12 May. The gallery is housed on the south bank of the Thames in the old Bankside Power Station, which was converted by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. Louise Bourgeois, an 88-year-old French-born artist living in New York, was invited to create a challenging artwork for the reclaimed Turbine Hall.
The spider sculpture, which is made up of several towers, made the journey from the US to Thamesport, where it was collected by Exley Transport of Rainham, Essex. The artwork made a spectacular entrance into the Tate, as the haulier was able to drive directly Into the Turbine Hall. Inside, a gantry crane, retained from its former role in the power station, was used to position the sculpture.
Meanwhile London cabbies—world-renowned for their critical faculties—were given a sneak preview of exhibits in the new museum. About 300 drivers were invited, ostensibly for the benefit of their fares—but of course they had a thing or two to say about the art on show. General opinion had it that the Jackson Pollocks worked better as cockney rhyming slang, although not all the criticism was unfavourable.
Bourgeois's sculpture was described as "beautiful" by one cabbie, and Andrew Tyson from Bankside was really enthusiastic. "I am not really a culture vulture, and I don't know a lot about art, but this is wonderful. I would tell my customers it is brilliant."