I went to see two exhibitions yesterday in London, one at the Bankside Gallery- the mini picture exhibition – and one at the Royal Drawing School – the final show of the Drawing Year 2017.   Although I’ve included a link to the works above, it should be said that there is nothing like going to see the work itself, getting close to those you like and also appreciate the size, how they are displayed and what calls your attention.

The first one, at Bankside, was slightly disappointing as it is late in the day and any work that is purchased is no longer there.  The works are packed in, even if small (and some are not so small!) and there is no clear theme on the curation.  Here, I liked the watercolours of Sophie Knight of her studio surfaces, the dark city scape by Paul Newland, and the little candle series by Simon Pierse.  Of the printmakers, once more, Anita Klein linocuts showing very intimate exchanges between her characters, stood out. They have intimacy and humour in them.

The Royal Drawing School show was very different, very fresh, spaciously hang, full of interesting pictures, with loads of stories to tell, on current themes.  The focus is on drawing but there were combinations of drawing and printmaking and painting.  Very moving was the series Existence – Refugees in Calais by Gideon Summerfield.
The show is finished now but you can see below the mixture of drawing in various media and printing.  It was also very refreshing seeing the sketchbooks on show as the school focuses on drawing and experimenting in their courses.

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