Art and Anger

I had a trip into London on a day off, and managed to squeeze in a few exhibitions plus some theatre. 

Abigail's Party

I am going to start with the final visit of the day which was to see the Mike Leigh classic, Abigail's Party, revived with Tamzin Outhwaite as Bev, the monstrous hostess from the 1970s.  One of the amazing things about this was, although she opened with a slightly nasal intonation reminiscent of Alison Steadman's defining performance, she very quickly moved away and made Bev her own.   Bev is still a monster, perhaps a little more vicious than I remember, but that might be because the 1970's culture on display here was even more jarring than I remember it being when first produced.  A clever touch is to make Tony and Angela, their new neighbours who are visiting, of Asian heritage, adding an additional frisson to the class and other topics that fall out of Bev and Laurence's mouths. Tony and Ange are as awkward as any of us would be dealing with someone as overbearing as Bev, and Tony's response to Bev's flirting is very funny.  I did find the discussion between the women both sad and sobering, talking about what their husbands would allow, and Sue's awkwardness about her divorce in the face of Ange's questioning was toe curling.  I would love to say we have moved on, and perhaps we have, but it made me think about the push back against feminism and rights of all kinds happening now.

 I would say the majority of the audience have seen the tv production, with some of the laughs perhaps a bit knowing.  But it is still very very funny despite, and perhaps because, how uncomfortable we feel at how awful Bev is.   It's still a brilliant comedy of manners and  still works as a social commentary of that group of people trying really hard to be socially mobile, and establish themselves at the top of the pile, using all sorts of standards that they perhaps use more as motifs than understand.  Even if the cultural references have changed a bit, we can still recognise these people, and nowadays the shadow of  Brexit and Reform can be discerned too.  I would say that Laurence (Kevin Bishop) is not as obviously tightly wound as I would have expected, and it is harder to see the clues of how hard he is struggling until right at the end.  The laughs continue further than I would have expected too, with the result that the final tragedy doesn't hit quite as hard as I would have liked it to.   

For an Essex girl of my vintage, it was highly entertaining to be taken back to that time of grim aspiration, and I loved the soundtrack, full of aural reminders of the time,beyond the weaponised use of Demis Roussos, and visually, the hideous wallpaper, advocado green phone, g-plan furniture with fold down drinks cabinet is perfect, alongside the cheese and pineapple chunks and bacardi and coke.  With that as a backdrop, Outhwaite is the undoubted star of the show, and Bev is still a magnificent, horrific, comic creation.  

But before all that, there was the art .... 

Courtald Gallery

I headed into the Barbara Hepworth exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery.  This one was focusing particularly on colour but I love the shapes of her sculptures.  My biggest problem though is always stopping myself from touching them. The first one was very wisely placed behind glass, but the second pair I could have just reached out and stroked them, so I moved quickly on.

After I had avoided getting myself thrown out I took a little browse through the impressionist section at the gallery which is just stacked with so many famous paintings I can never quite believe how empty the place is.   

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

Next stop was the National Portrait Gallery for this year's Portrait Award.  It's a bit of a mouthful, but I always really enjoy this one, which is full of paintings rather than other mediums.   As it's free, I might go back again, particularly as I liked so many I haven't chosen which one I will vote for in the public award.  But these are the ones that are in contention for me at the moment.  

I enjoyed this wall of tattoed subjects - all different and by different artists

I have a bit of a thing about textures, particularly of fabric, and this overhead Madonna and Child by Frances Featherstone caught my attention, mainly for the rendering of the crumpled fabric, but also, just look at that baby's face!

I liked this self portrait too - Stripes, by Doris Rose, capturing how her brain feels when dealing with a number of different brain conditions 

But the one I kept coming back to was this one After the Rain We Remain by Shinji Ihara.  This painting of his partner and their cat outside their apartment in Hiroshima just captured my attention.  Firstly it has a cat (apparently the cat died between starting the painting and finishing it, so it has an additional sentimental element) but I love how hyperreal it is - it is definitely paint and not photography, but it also feels like it is full of emotion.  Ihara's entry a couple of years ago , also of his partner and a pet, was a favourite of mine too. 

But finally, I also liked this one , Julia's stare by Liam Bardam made me laugh too as the little girl's personality shines through

You can see the exhibition for free and vote for your favourite portrait here