Tapping into the spirit of Art

I love the Courtauld Gallery, set in one corner of the neo-classical glamour that is Somerset House, and boasting some fine views of the Thames on its uppermost floors. The latter location, part of the Courtauld Institute of Art, is a good spot for the interesting and absorbing shows it stages - the latest being Georgiana Houghton: Spirit Drawings. Earlier in the month, I caught this summer showcase of a most unusual, little-known Victorian artist (1814-1884) whose work is mainly to be found in Melbourne, Australia, at The Victorian Spiritualists' Union. Perhaps the Aussies were onto something... because her work was well before its time.
This collection of abstract watercolours, not seen in the UK for more than a century, capture a kind of spiritual energy (Ms Houghton was also a spiritual medium and this area of interest clearly informed her artistic endeavours) with their magical and heavenly shapes and forms. A truly memorable and other-worldly show.
For ease, I'm wearing a simple linen shift (made in Italy, purchased in Crystal Palace) and my comfortable Supergas, excellent for walk-abouts and those cobbles in the Somerset House courtyard. For essential colour, under changeable September skies, I added a dash of orange with my Parosh top, and lots of ethnic beads and bag. The sunnies are by Moschino. The location are the environs of Somerset House, now a mecca for the creative arts, and with its own fine spirit of place.

Welcome to Dulwich, MadC!

Here's a new addition to the street art of Dulwich - by MadC - to be found at the crossroads where pub meets library, and bank meets florists, at the top end of Lordship Lane. The recently-finished mural prompted closer inspection (and a photo opportunity). I'm wearing my favourite new combats, authentically Desert Storm indeed with their own NATO number (and a bargain to boot from Frank the Stylist), together with a leather Banana Republic jacket and a shaggy waistcoat from Sugar. The snakeskin boots are by Pura López whilst the sunnies, in the same style zone as Iris Apfel, are French by Francois Pinton, from south London's Paraphernalia. My turquoise jewellery is from Jessica Walker.
The new piece of street art replaces another called Tea with a Bee, created as part of Baroque the Streets, a collaboration between Dulwich Festival and Street Art London. It, along with a number of other works, put Dulwich firmly on the map for street art, back in May 2013. MadC's work also appeared then, most notably in The Street Art House, formerly at 265 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich.

Bring on 2015!

January is the corridor month into a new year and how you approach it is often indicative of the year to come. It is also when one takes a brief backward look over one's shoulder at the previous year and then one looks firmly forward into the new one, ideally from the comfort of home, precisely my living room.

Last year had so many highlights: unforgettable art exhibitions such as the Matisse: Cutouts at Tate Modern which I returned to again and again, for those dazzling displays of colour and form from a master scissorhands and the ground-breaking show at the Royal Academy with Sensing Spaces bringing architecture up close, personal and to the rafters in Picadilly. Also at Tate Modern, the Paul Klee and Malevich shows were both absorbing and inspiring whilst the RA's Summer Exhibition is always a fixture in my calendar.

At the V&A, each exhibition seemed to outdo the next in the glamour stakes: from the peerless Pearls show to the Glamour of Italian Fashion and those Bulgari jewels, owned by Elizabeth Taylor, to the more recent Horst show.

In south London, I enjoy my thrice yearly trips to Battersea, with the Decorative Art Fair to make a purchase and discover what exactly is taking the interior designer's fancy at the moment, as well the two weekends in May which celebrate  Artists' Open House. On the street is certainly where I help take fashion from local boutique, Paraphernalia, from CroftFest to Croftmas. It is my only opportunity to dress up in totally different looks, without having to buy the clothes but I inevitably fall for that one piece!  My local gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, always has interesting shows, notably 2014's Hockney: Printmaker and Art & Life and currently has brought Emily Carr to the capital and sparked fresh interest in one of Canda's best-loved artists. And in the shadow of Tower Bridge, the Design Museum showed off the endlessly inventive talents of Paul Smith in a memorable exhibition.

Further afield, we had a grand weekend at Knepp Castle (not as guests I might add) but helping friends with their vintage stall at The Floral Fringe; and a couple of trips to Chichester to visit a favourite, the Pallant, to see the Pauline Boty and J.D. Fergusson exhibitions. The Pallant House Gallery also re-affirms that small is not only beautiful but always fulfilling and a trip to Margate in late summer showed that the Kent seaside town has a showcase gallery in the form of the Turner Contemporary. And for all the above events and excursions, I continue to wear clothes from my wardrobe: old, new, vintage, repaired, reconstituted and reinvented, but always with aplomb. That's really the only accessory required. And a little Dior lipstick!

Tate Modern

Tate Modern is always good for a stroll through its magnificent Turbine Hall: Richard Tuttle's 'I Don't Know'. The Weave of Textile Language is the largest installation by this renowned American sculptor, and the newly commissioned piece thoroughly suits the space. Its arrival coincides with a retrospective of the artist's work at the Whitechapel Gallery. I couldn't resist the chrome yellow walls on the second floor - a sharp contrast to all the black and white I'm wearing - top by Jesiré with sequinned collar and cuffs; Italian trousers by Massimo Rebecchi, with more sequins; and silk sling-backs by Dolce & Gabbana. The vintage fur is from the '70s and the velvet bag, with cane handle, is even older. Up on the second floor at Tate Modern, a retrospective, Alibis: Sigmar Polke 1963-2010 highlights the work of one of the most radical and original artists of the past 50 years, who used an unlikely array of materials and media to work with - from soot and bubble wrap, to potatoes and python, as well as ground dust from a Chilean meteor! This true astronaut of the experimental was also given to wearing his own art - note the image at the entrance to the show - of Polke draped in a litany of archaic German insults called: 'The Large Cloth of Abuse'.

Allen Jones RA

Cutting a dash in Mayfair lately is this distinctive orange sculpture by Allen Jones, and arresting poster girl, Kate Moss, wearing one of the Royal Academician's 'bodies'. The ever-controversial, often-debatable Mr Jones, a pioneer of Pop Art, is enjoying a major retrospective at the RA's Burlington Gardens, the grand mid-19th building by Sir James Pennethorne. Allen Jones' show has provoked further discussion as well as mixed reviews. Either way, you can't ignore him even when you set those cut-out figures against the august statues of 17th century philosophers, Sir Francis Bacon and John Locke. The latter wrote 'An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'. Indeed! 
To see the exhibition I wrapped up in Joseph knits, with a Tait & Style scarf. The bag is DKNY and the boots, by Ras, are firm favourites.

Hixter Bankside

From factory floor to hip new eaterie: Hixter Bankside puts meat on the plate (chicken or steak to share) and major Brit art on its walls. Launched in the summer at 16 Great Guildford Street, it boasts a range of fare for the avid carnivore (accompanied by lots of greens) in several relaxed settings, together with friendly service. The restaurant, just off Southwark Street, is the seventh opened by celebrated chef, Mark Hix. The dress to dine in, on this occasion, is an imperially purple silk chiffon piece, by Diane von Furstenberg.