A trip to the Baltic

Last week, me and my friend Caitlin, who studies Fine Art, decided to visit the Baltic to see the new exhibitions as I hadn't been since the summer. The Baltic is often a good place to go to find very contemporary, out-of-the-box artwork produced by independent artists. After the obligatory visit to the gift shop, we headed upstairs to see the exhibitions.

We were first greeted by 'Play Rebellion' which is an interactive exhibition designed for children to use their imagination and build their own installation. The exhibition space was filled with large, monochromatic and geometrically-shaped bricks, enabling children to build forts and sculptures. Leeds-based artist, Pippa Hale, designed the exhibition with the intention of 'connecting people and places'. I think this purpose fits the outcome well and I enjoyed watching all the kids and parents interact and play like children used, outside building forts and castles, at least that's what I used to do! Aside from the enjoyment for the younger generation, the exhibition had key features of cubism, with the shapes contrasting against the white walls, it created a 3D work of art when looking from a distance at how the shapes harmonised together.

Play Rebellion, Floor 2

Upstairs, we found an exhibition called 'Animalesque' which filled the whole floor and had various areas portraying the artists' love of animals through sculpture, collage and videography. I immediately felt a bit confused, like most of the other people, to see a huge rhino lying in the middle of the room. The rhino portrayed some mixed emotions however he was very cleverly made using clay, the artist captures the likeness perfectly with the wrinkles and detailing on the skin it appeared very life-like! The exhibition, in my eyes, aimed to raise awareness for animals that don't usually get a lot of focus in the media, like rhinos and insects. It covered a lot of animals, predator or prey, they were all presented as equal and showed huge diversity as the exhibition was curated by many artists from around the world; Marcus Coats from the UK, Pia Arke from Greenland and Pierre Huyghe from France, to name a few. I remember thinking it was amazing that the Baltic is recognised worldwide among the art community and that we take for granted the art being on our doorstep.

Like many artists today using their voice and position in the industry for good, the exhibition aims to challenge how people see animals and 'rethink the relationship between animals and nature' as we individually have a huge impact on the world around us. Now, more than ever our environment is changing so rapidly with global warming, pollution and rising sea levels, I think its good that artists can portray an emotive impact through their work, without it feeling too enforced on the viewers.

Animalesque Exhibition

I enjoyed my trip and learning about new and upcoming artists is always beneficial to my studies. Being aware of current exhibitions helps me feel informed of current art trends and allows you to have a better understanding of what other artists are focusing on, keeping you connected. In terms of relating what I saw to my current project, it's hard to find noticeable connections as my focus is on Japanese landscapes however I always love seeing distinctive installation work, like the huge rhino, as they inspire me to be more experimental and test new techniques that I wouldn't usually gravitate towards- maybe I'll try making a huge animal in the next project!

Other Exhibition work on display