I joined a number of friends and colleagues at the National Gallery Art Night on Saturday. I'm afraid I had no idea Art Night was a thing! I was tempted in by a group of young freelancers, part of a project started at LTM, who organised the event at the National Gallery.The night was inspired by the highly accessible George Shaw residency exhibition, which focuses on how the 'romance' of many Titian, Poussin and other historical paintings which are set in beaucolic woodland scenes, could actually be seen a bit more sordidly and less romantically, especially when moved into the equivalent contemporary world! I found the exhibition humorous and familiar, and the young freelancers had done a marvelous job in creating a similarly fun and humorous event which had really clearly grown from the exhibition itself.
As they drifted quietly around the darkened galleries, ladies dressed as trees whispered to you, inviting you to share your secrets by writing them on leaves. Little did you realise that your secrets might be shared back later in improvisation by the hilarious and brilliant punk choir, Gaggle, who had me mesmerised as they moved from room to room to share their music.Finally, we were invited to make dens, or the secret places we hung out as teenagers, on the balcony overlooking Trafalgar Square. I didn't quite get to making, but I instantly thought of the bus stop at the end of the road ... I had a fabulous time - it was just what I'd hoped for!
