Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art

After lengthy spells at home during lockdown, it was something of a novelty to simply jump on a bus to the big city and hit a museum. While I (perhaps secretly) enjoyed some aspects of being confined to barracks, I did miss the freedom to roam around at will. The converse to that was the fact I discovered a lot of places on my own doorstep that I'd previously turned a blind eye to. Anyway, normality was returning and Nicole and I decided to travel into Glasgow. The return fare is a bargain £9 as a transport corridor to the city is included in the Stagecoach East Scotland Dayrider zone. Yes, I know Glasgow lies in the west but there you go. We had lunch at Paesano Pizzeria in the Merchant City then headed over to the Gallery of Modern Art. Even if you have never set foot inside the place, you certainly know the iconic statue outside. The Duke of Wellington with a traffic cone upon his head.

I had visited once before. Nicole trained as a yoga teacher - 12 weekend sessions over the course of a year. The routine was to book a room in the Ibis Hotel and arrive around teatime on Friday evening. I would enjoy a few pints in Wetherspoons while she went through various contortions on the mat. Actually I did used to have a good yoga practice and it worked wonders for posture and positive wellbeing. I let that slide and have probably stiffened right up again. I really should think about returning. The Saturday session was an all-day affair and I'd jump on a train and see a new part of the country. I went on a few great walks and even made it across to the islands of Bute and Great Cumbrae for a few hours. On one occasion in Glasgow it was pouring rain and I decided to remain within the city centre. I sought shelter within the Modern Art Gallery and found a film exhibition that was right up my street. I explored the other rooms and overall it was a positive experience. I've been in art galleries all across Europe and usually I'll find something to connect with. The modern installations can be hit or miss. Sometimes they are too bizarre to comprehend. What do you do when confronted with a wooden rowing boat with hundreds of coat-hanger hooks hammered into the planks? Or a circle of stone crows which decrease in size as you cast your eye around? There can be a comedy element (which may be partly the point). It's pretty subjective, this art business. The museum features a wonderful spiral staircase and I enjoyed reading through the information about the history of the grand building, which is situated on Royal Exchange Square and dates from 1778. Originally a townhouse for a wealthy tobacco merchant, it was later purchased by the Bank of Scotland before transforming into the Royal Exchange - where commodities such as coal, iron and sugar were bought and sold by businessmen. Insurance and shipping deals would also have been thrashed out here. Extra architectural features were added around this time, such as the double portico façade and a cupola. In 1880, the city's first telephone exchange was installed in the building. Ironically, the increasingly popularity of this new technology lessened the need for a central trading exchange and by 1949 the place was acquired by the Glasgow Corporation and converted into a library. The present art gallery (often marketed as GoMA) opened in 1996 and has proved highly popular - hosting several million visitors. The cone-headed statue outside isn't actually part of the exhibits, rather the work of daring locals operating late at night. Nevertheless the old Duke is now a city landmark and the cone was painted gold during the 2012 Olympic games as a celebration of the record haul of gold medals won by Team GB.

Today's temporary exhibition was by Nirbhai (Nep) Singh Sidhu - an interdisciplinary practitioner who lives and works in Toronto. The display was titled An Immeasurable Melody, Medicine for a Nightmare. Described as someone who works through form and spatial rhythm within the infinite arcs of community and self-expression, Sidhu's work seeks symbolic pathways that help realise the formlessness of the divine through endless possibility and search, using material investigations of textile, sculpture, painting, metaphysics and sound. Make of that what you will. The Art Newspaper previewed the exhibition as follows - "Nep Sidhu has created vast tapestry and multimedia works as well as a monumental marble/metal sculpture and a stunningly

shot meditative film. All of this is steeped in Sikh metaphysics, symbolism and ritual as well as Sikhism’s often bloody history of persecution. There’s a particular focus on the role of sound and rhythm, and while much of the content and meaning may be lost on the non-Sikh viewer, the sheer visual impact of this work and its abundance of vivid, if enigmatic, detail offers a glimpse into the infinitely rich culture of the world’s fifth largest organised religion". Well, they were certainly correct with the assumption that much of the significance would go over the head of those who weren't raised in the Sikh faith. The hanging tapestries looked nice but it was a case of admiring the intricacies of the patterns before moving on to the next display. I wasn't able to join the dots that led to a deeper understanding but I suppose that's the beauty of art. It doesn't convey the same set of emotions to everyone. Perhaps if I came back tomorrow, I would look at it in a different way. I enjoyed browsing the upstairs galleries with the modern paintings. One that stood out was By the Clyde (1992, pictured above) - a work in oils by Beryl Cook (1926-2008). The artist herself said "I liked this view of the bridge and the bus, and added a girl I had seen at Glasgow Railway Station". If you look closely, you can just make out offensive graffiti on the bridge. The Dunkin' Donuts advert on the bus is of its time. The American chain virtually pulled out of the UK in the 90s - closing 30 outlets - after struggling to make an impact. It is creeping back now but remains a minor player. Maybe Brits just prefer Krispy Kreme. Beryl Cook had no formal training and didn't pick up a paintbrush until she was in her 30s. Her works often depict street scenes, often featuring people out enjoying themselves. It is sometimes said she painted the flamboyant characters she would like to have been, due to her quiet and shy nature. That theory does make the tired assumption that self-contained people have a niggling desire to be more extrovert. In reality, I think you'll find we are usually quite happy to be who we are. Maybe Beryl Cook just liked painting certain scenes, without a secret yearning to act them out.

By all accounts, pop artist Andy Warhol didn't exactly shield himself from the more outlandish side of life. A native of Pittsburgh but forever associated with the New York scene, Warhol is attributed with coining the phrase "everyone in the future will be famous for 15 minutes" to describe the fleeting nature of celebrity. Or did he? Many commentators reckon he never actually uttered those words. Nat Finkelstein claimed to be partly responsible for the expression, stating that he was photographing Warhol in 1966 for a proposed book. A crowd gathered trying to get into the pictures and Warhol supposedly remarked that everyone wants to be famous, to which Finkelstein replied, "Yeah, for about fifteen minutes, Andy". Some of the TV interviews with Warhol are hilarious, as he deliberately plays dumb. A deeply superficial person as he once described himself. Warhol was of course closely associated with celebrated art-rockers The Velvet Underground during the band's early days. He is officially credited as the producer of the VU's much lauded debut album but in reality his duties extended little beyond paying for the studio time. It's one of those influential records that wasn't actually successful upon release but grew in stature over time, long after the band itself had disintegrated. They did reunite briefly in the 90s to mixed reviews. I bought the VHS release of their Paris concert and while John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker were clearly in inspired form, frontman Lou Reed had a more distant stage presence. That could easily have been the intention! Reed and Morrison have since passed away but a fit & healthy Cale is still recording and touring at the age of 80. Mo Tucker still active too. Warhol died in 1987 due to post-operation complications at the age of 58. His works now sell for millions of dollars and surely everyone is familiar with his screen printings and paintings of Campbell's Soup cans. I saw one of them in the TASTE! gallery - a semi-permanent collection of artwork from Glasgow Museum’s collection as well as material from GoMA’s archive. Apparently the gallery has attracted criticism for not doing enough to highlight emerging Glaswegian and Scottish artists, instead leaning too heavily on established touring pieces. I was simply happy to see a Warhol original. Did I enjoy my day? In the true spirit of the man - Ummm, yes!