London, UK: I have heard that the restaurant on the top floor of Tate Modern Art Gallery in London hosts a spectacular view of the Thames. However, I had forgotten about food (for once) because I was on one of my walking art-and-nature prowls around London.

I landed at St. Paul’s Cathedral, marveled at the architecture and the thick crowd of tourists basking in the sun. I had taken up sketching during my trip to the UK so enjoyed the sketching tryst till the need to walk to the Millennium bridge got the better of me.

 

With Tate Modern behind me, St Paul's across the River Thames. Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa, 2011

 

Very interesting photo. Land above the sea? Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa, 2011

I had forgotten that the bridge passed over the Thames (I could see the London Bridge at a distance with the auto, train and bus sweeping past each other like moving polka dots) and right into the arms of the Tate Modern.

The smell of barbecue outside the gallery attracted me towards it. I found the gallery’s architecture quite nondescript and staid. Still, who knew what artwork treasures would be found in there? After all, that’s what the Cultural Arts Travelogue is all about. Discovering handcrafted treasures on our travels.

@Tate Modern. Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa

 

 

Here are some photos from the art exhibition that was going on – I couldn’t possibly cover all the floors of the Tate Modern and so settled to visit this free exhibition. Whilst I’m not terribly fond of modern art, I did find it interesting to read how the artist sculptor came upon the idea, what he was trying to share with the audience, with the hope that someone would ‘get it.’

Sculpture by Joseph Beuys called 'Lightning with Stag in its Glare." Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa

The sculpture by German artist Joseph Beuys took the whole room. Somehow I found it fascinating, especially when I understood his background and what he was trying to portray through this sculptural installation called “Lightning with Stag in its Glare.” He is known for blending myth, politics and man’s relationship to the natural world in his sculptural installations. The bronze cast stands for the bolt of lightning whilst the silver looking stag is actually an aluminium cast. I guess the harnessing of the natural energies is what attracted me to this sculpture.

Untitled, 1979. Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa

 

Untitled, 1979. Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa

 

 

I don’t like crows. They remind me of people who are scavengers off others good nature and generosity. In this work named Untitled 1979, Kounellis who was seen as one of the leading figures of the Arte Povera movement, has used the power of imagery, arrows and stuffed birds to explain an industrial scene taken from the nineteenth century. The other stuffed bird used was the jackdaw. Sometimes simple line drawings in charcoal on paper are just as effective.

 

Marine Object by Eileen Agar. Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa

Eileen Agar, is an Argentinian mixed media artist who created Marine Oject bywith a Greek amphora found in a fisherman’s net in the south of France, merged with crustaceans and the like, with the final addition of the ram’s horn from Cumberland. Love the rustic, harsh, rough effect of all these elements.

Ai Wiewie's Sunflower Seeds. Photo © Preethi Janice D'sa 2011

A close up of Ai Wiewie's Sunflower Seeds. Photo © Preethi Janice D'sa 2011

Ai Wiewei’s Sunflower seeds are actually not sunflower seeds. Each seed has been individually handmade from porcelain, would you believe. The inspiration is gleaned from the sunflowers seeds being a typical street snack of China. For the artist, this seed was a generous gesture of friendship and kindness during the Cultural Revolution of the 60s that China had witnessed.

It was time to head to the tube station St. Pauls. But not without spending one hour just listening to the musicians perched on the Millennium Bridge. I quickly discovered that with great music, I can sketch really well.

Musicians on the Millenium Bridge. Photo © Preethi Janice D'Sa

The musician who became the model for my sketch. Photo © Preethi Janice D'sa

My sketch.

 

 

And here questions of type such if honestly strike me not much as I wrote everything higher. It is visible you simply you don’t want to read all this. As my parrot does.