I know I keep beefing on about this, but I remain less than convinced that the Photographers’ Gallery’s quest to be bigger and better has been a successful one – everyone I know still prefers the more intimate surroundings of the Great Newport Street premises.
Hoofing out the wonderful Billy and his long-serving cafe has done nothing to help, and I now rarely visit the new sleek’n’shiny – and more expensive – characterless replacement cafe.
That said, I still pay the occasional visit to the new gallery at 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, near Oxford Circus, and this time I actually enjoyed some of the work.
One thing you quickly get used to at this gallery is the stairs. There’s loads of them.
There’s not much to see on the ground floor so you have to climb the first lot of stairs to see a gallery – and annoyingly, the staff hog the second floor for themselves, so you have to climb another floor to continue the exhibition.
It’s not helped by the fact that there’s toilets opening on to the stairs at each level, and there can be quite a fruity whiff pervading the staircase at times.
Just about a whole floor is dedicated to a camera obscura which appears to open as frequently as a Titan Arum comes into flower. It was closed when we visited. Again.
The work I really enjoyed, however, was the Geraldo de Barros exhibition called ‘What Remains’.
A key figure in Brazilian art and design, he produced some striking experimental images, along with some delightful minimalist photographic work (see above).
[Geraldo de Barros Official Site]
Laura Letinsky’s ‘ Ill Form and Void Full (2010-11)’ series of large still life prints failed to move me much, although I liked the simplicity and space of the work.
Laura Letinsky, Ill Form and Void Full, Untitled 3, 2011. [Official site]
On the top floor is the ‘Perspectives on Collage’ exhibition showcasing eight approaches to collage.
I’m not the biggest fan of modern collage (Photoshop seems to dealt the art form a fatal blow), but mind how you go in, because it’s easy to trample on the work that’s laid out on the floor by the entrance!
More info:
Photographer’s Gallery
Monday – Saturday 10.00 – 18.00
Thursday 10.00 – 20.00
Sunday 11.30 – 18.00
(*please check before setting out)
Location:
16 – 18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW
Journey Planner or Street Map
Related posts:
Photographer’s Gallery London reopens: and it’s a bit of disappointment
Photographers’ Gallery moves to Oxford Circus
Shoot! Existential Photography at the Photographers Gallery, London
Beach scenes and Piccadilly rain, Photographers Gallery and other London photos
What Soho Wore, Black Dandyism and Terence Donovan at the Photographers’ Gallery, London
Photographers Gallery continues to disappoint, Getty Gallery enthrals
The Mass Observation project at the Photographers’ Gallery, London
A wooden wonderland: Tadashi Kawamata Stairs at Annely Juda Fine Art gallery, Mayfair, London
I’ve never noticed any nasty smells from the toilets in the stairway in all my visits??… Nothing on the ground floor?.. no, just a wicked cafe, and the best brownies in London! No mention of the fantastic bookshop in the basement too?? I’m not a particular fan of the premises, but let’s try to be more positive that we have this place in London..
@MrX100 I was a massive supporter of the old Photographers Gallery but I’m finding it hard to love these new premises. I liked it when the photographs were on the ground floor too.
The basement bookstore is good though and I did in fact rave about the Olympus Trip cameras there last week on another site I write for!