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‘Second Life’ has arrived at Tate Modern – surely a pinnacle of Tracey’s career and it was a joy and an honour to be part of it. It could be Tracey’s happiest day of her life, we were all certainly rejoicing in her great success - at last - her show! (most certainly not retrospective - save that for later)
Tracey with her best friend supporter Carl Freedman in this gorgeous photo taken by wonderful Rob Diament. (I loved this photo so much he let me use it for the diary – thank you Rob)
Me and THE handbag. A good opportunity to wear art on my sleeve with Curator Alvin Li
Assia and the Handbag, what a great Combo! A wonderful intimate dinner at Tate Modern in celebration of the most important day
The show was electric. The juxtaposition of works was dramatic
Of course there was the famous bed where Tracey pained and after this did not paint for five years. The whole experience tested her will to paint
However, there were so many other ways for her to create her art, Tracey has used many mediums, including sewing, embroidery …
…and delicate yet monumental sculpture - this is a memory of a roller coaster in Margate which she only went on once and never again
The scariest work for me was The Mask it feels like a death mask - the lady in the background is a shadow of the shadow in the painting watching Tracey go in and out of life and death after her operation
On another incredible evening Harry Weller gives us a private tour which was almost like a footnote with access to behind the scenes, we loved hearing all his incredible back stories
Across town another great lady - Rose Wylie – is also enjoying her Pinnacle so far. She had created a show of many narratives about her life and journey through film, food, books, and her war time memories
Katherine Stout gave us a fabulous tour full of intelligent insight
Then off to the National Portrait Gallery where Catherine Opie revealed a solo show that weaves throught he building and collections, a highlight being the newly commissioned wonderful photograph of Elton John, David Furnish and their two boys
The elegant dinner hosted by Victoria Siddall was very special
Great photo of happy Catherine Opie and my LiL SiS Yana Peel soaking in the evening
The next day we visited the studio of Ben Orlow with the Finnish Institute and Kiasma, as Head Curator Anna Mustonen is curating the Nordic Pavillion in Venice this year. We listened to a very interesting talk about Ben’s work and visited his impressive but small project space ‘St Chads’
I dropped into Christies to hear Joseph Braka speak about one of their prize auction pieces by Gehard Richter ‘Haybarn’ from 1984 was originally in the Emily and Spiegel collection. Richter in the 1980s started to paint blurred paintings of his homeland Schober. It was estimated to go for up to $9M I wonder how much it sold for? (£8.4M)
Then final stop was visiting Interval with David and young Jacob Gryn, in their impressive new gallery in Clerkenwell. Make sure you visit them. It’s a jewel
