How long is it since you’ve immersed yourself in art? I always find myself fascinated by the other gallery visitors as much as I am with the art. Watching art lovers interact with art is fascinating. How they respond, look, interact, get lost in it; it shows the importance of having exhibitions of all types of art. If you take the time to get lost in a painting, to figure it out, to learn about it, what it means to you and the artist.
It can stir up emotions, it makes you think, it touches your mind and your heart.
I’ve searched through the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and ended up watching the crowds more than the lady herself. I’ve sat in the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris and gazed at Monet for at least an hour, and I’ve got lost in Picasso in Malaga, but the art that stirred me the most was Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí at Kelvingrove in Glasgow. I don’t know what it was for sure, the setting, the size, the atmosphere in the room, the shock of just coming across it. But it definitely caught my attention.
It’s always a pleasure to go to a great exhibition and The Mac in Belfast regularly push my buttons with their choises.
They have 2 exhibitions at the minute which are worth checking out..
Alfred Wallis in the Tall Gallery with art inspired by his time as a merchant sailor and undertaking Atlantic voyages as a young man. Alfred started painting around the age of seventy, with no formal training and little income, now that’s inspiring! His work uses a limited palette of boat or household paints, he would recycle pieces of cardboard, from his local greengrocer, to create these seafaring works of art.
Both exhibitions run until 13 March.