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From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1

25 April 2016

No I have not been Inter-railing, just hopping about from place to place.

From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
First stop was a must visiting the Tate Modern Extension for a special tour for us given by Nick Serota.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
I was totally stunned how sculptural the new Herzog & De Meuron designed, brick clad building is and how the building aesthetically blends in a non-intrusive way with the existing Tate Modern. Nick is a true visionary and the building is totally sympathetic to the Tate Modern environment.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
So much so that the surrounding contemporary buildings start to be a bit of an eyesore and I imagine in a few years the Tate Modern will remain a classic and an architectural triumph, while the surrounding buildings will begin to date.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
There was time afterwards to at last visit the 'Performing for the Camera' show at Tate Modern. I was delighted to see Amalia Ulman's 'Excellences and Perfections' in the show. Amalia's large photos were an Instagram performance, where she fooled both her own followers and art world critics by staging her move to Los Angeles and acting through her struggles to fit and take up a Californian life-style, plastic surgery and all.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
We had time to celebrate Poju's birthday at Pharmacy2, where a Banksyesque work appeared right under the arches. We had to cover it up as it was not a very nice welcome for the guests.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
Poju loved his cake shaped like one of Damien's famous tablets.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
To our amazing surprise, Damien Hirst presented Poju with a fabulous gift. We were really touched. I made our evening much merrier.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
Then to Berlin for a few other thing I had to attend to. But I had time to visit SOCIÉTÉ and see the new Bunny Rogers show. She is young but definitely going somewhere. Her work has depth and an intricate narrative, so I am definitely watching this space.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
Her new work, Columbine Cafeteria, is still working through the high school massacre, following on from a work about the library. This is morphed with her childhood memories of TV series characters such as Joan of Arc from 'Clone High' and Gaz from 'Invader Zim'.;
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
From the 'Snowflake Day' special episode she took Mandy Moore's character as a starting point to create a new work. A girl, presumably Mandy, is playing on the piano with paper snowflake falling around her.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
Then there was the question of art or not art, where the hint of a typical teenage night of drinking shown in the animation was brought to life as a sculpture.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
We also had time for a hearty breakfast with our Dis friends who are curating the Berline Biennale, joined by Javier Peres and Nick Koenigsknecht, our September solo artist at the Collection Donna Huanca, Daniel Keller and Poju and me.
From Berlin to Paris to Cologne to Milan pt 1
And finally, GREAT NEWS! My Lil Sis Yana Peel is now CEO of the Serpentine Galleries. I am so delighted! I think Serpentine were wise to think out of the box. Yana is kind and inclusive and will make so many feel a part of this special institution. We will miss Julia Peyton Jones.