Arnolfini Arts — Attraction in Bristol

The Arnolfini is something of a local treasure. It has been on the waterfront since 1975, when much of Bristol's floating harbour was all but derelict. It has always attracted comment, much of it complimentary, as well as the 'It might be art, but it's bloody poor welding' kind. Pretty much everything can and does happen there - art, sculpture, dance, film (sadly not as much as there used to be!) and golf!

The golf was amusing enough, if a bit more mundane than I was expecting, but the outstanding exhibition of the moment is that of Ian Hamilton Finlay's printed works. Finlay was, to my mind, one of the most interesting and important artist/poets of the 20th century. This exhibition concentrates upon his printed concrete poetry and has been curated very well indeed. Our expectations of a gallery generally include a few large images spaced out in a much larger space. Finlay's printed works are rather small, often very small. I expect it took courage to display them as they are on the tall walls of a big gallery space. These are intimate things, like postcards and greetings cards, they speak to individuals rather than audiences. I was instantly engaged by Finlay's wit and his extraordinary imagination and delighted to see that, all around the gallery, other visitors were similarly absorbed in little worlds of their own with the work. Also great to see what I believe is almost the entire output of the Wild Hawthorn Press in one place.

Finlay worked in all kinds of media - stone, wood, cloth, garden features, metal and actual concrete (!) in collaboration with a range of craftspeople. Thankfully some of those other media may be seen in the gardens around St Georges, Brandon Hill in commissioned works installed around 2002. Well worth a visit because what is missing at the Arnolfini is a sense of Finlay's extraordinary range - this is not a criticism, this show works really...

Visited the excellent Frank Bowling exhibition, which was a treat. Covid app and hand gel on the way in and a nice friendly greeting at the door.

The exhibition of large abstract expressionist paintings was over two floors and four rooms and encompassed many recent works.

The galleries weren't crowded and whilst I was there everyone worn masks.

The only reason I have given 4 rather than 5 stars is because of the poor lightning, especially in the smaller upstairs galleries. Conservation is always sited as the reason but I'm afraid with the lighting advance we have now and the vastly improve light fastness of modern acrylics I think it a poor excuse.

Just returned from the Arnolfini's excellent Paula Rego exhibition having taken a small group of artists with a learning disability there. We had a lovely greeting from the front of house staff and this was matched by the young invigilators of the exhibition. A great show well worth a visit, it's really nice to see the Arnolfini in full swing again, hence my...

Half term events were awesome, courtesy of Let’s Make Art. You could come in to make mandalas, no booking required and it wasn’t too busy. Facilitators were friendly, welcoming and encouraging, but not too in your face! Lots of resources and when there was a lunch break we hadn’t finished so we popped into the library in the gallery (this is all on the second floor) and used the art cart with a whole load of kids quietly working away on their creations. Magazines to cut up, millions of pens and crayons and loads of art books to be inspired by for the older ones. About two hours of entertainment, all for free/donation only. We also had a look at the video installation next door which had giant bean bags and a hyperactive four year old was fascinated and watching for five minutes which was great. A quick spin round the downstairs galleries and the book shop ended our tour of the Arnolfini gallery, and we’ll be back again next school holidays if they have more events, well worth the trip and...