Warhol, Burroughs & Lynch
Last Sunday Emma and I went for a bit of a wander in town, poked our heads in a few shops, grabbed a coffee and headed up to the Photographers Gallery. I took my camera with me but due to it being cold the battery died. So this is the only shot I got all day which was pretty annoying.
I was a little disappointed with the Photographers Gallery overall. The entrance sequence is very strange and you end up piling on top of people as you enter due to the tiny area to buy tickets. Then you have to turn around and cross back over those same people to get to the stair which is very cramped.
The first floor exhibition was the Warhol images. Some were interesting but most had very little meaning to me. Nothing of any real value in my mind. It was rammed too and you felt like you were on a badly design conveyor belt.
Next up was the Burroughs floor. Nope, sorry, he may have been a wonderful writer but these were just snaps and a series on a filing cabinet. Even worse was the text that went with the images that aimed to overlay an implied sense of meaning to something ordinary over 40 years later. Not at all engaging at all to my mind.
Just when I thought all was lost we got to the top floor to see the David Lynch exhibition. For some reason it felt more spacious which was probably helped by less people cramming in to see it. There was less of a conveyor belt feeling too and the prints were bigger and had more impact which also helped. Lynch also chose a soundtrack for his images which further enhanced the impact of his work although its very subtle. It’s dark and brooding but somehow avoids the ruin porn cliche. Well worth seeing, just avoid the first two floors. Your mileage may vary obviously. The four quid price of entry is a bargain for the Lynch exhibition.
Here’s a couple of the Lynch Photos. The exhibition is on until the 30th March.
