Anish Kapoor, 2026, Hayward Gallery

I have always loved the scale of Anish Kapoor's work, even if I don't understand much about the philosophy behind it, and this exhibition's initial hit is based on the overwhelming size of the first exhibit when you first walk into the gallery, with a scale that made me feel overwhelmed and squashed at the same time

But I hadn't seen his works with the blackest of black paint before.  Apparently there is a whole controversy because he has bought exclusive rights to this colour, and I can understand the outrage, but he certainly makes the most of it.  I don't think it really shows in photos, but the optical illusions, created by how dark the paint is, are truly amazing and makes it a properly interactive experience.  They look like they are floating in midair, or completely vanish when you try to capture anything three-dimensional in an image.  The photos here are the best I could do, loads of them just don't make sense in 2D, so it means you'll just have to go and look for yourself, sorry! 

There are fab optical illusions created with mirrors too.  Photos can't capture the experience as you move around - yes, you can get this in a fairground too, but what's wrong with having a bit of a fairground experience in your art? 

Upstairs, the art was more visceral, and sometimes quite dark and oppressive, sometimes dwarfing with the scale, although they could almost be natural, apart from the overwhelming colour.  But on more than one occasion these works reminded me of the Upside Down in Stranger Things 

And sometimes the works were just downright messily visceral 

But sometimes they were joyful, I wonder if by accident? Although this one is probably intended to be a bleak cut, I loved what appeared to be light gleaming through 

And, sometimes that very physical experience almost made me laugh.  More than anything, this reminds me of bums - sorry if I am lowering the tone but I sent this picture on to friends who all got it immediately.

Anyway, this exhibition is on at the Hayward Gallery until the middle of October and I highly recommend it