I had very much been looking forward to the William Blake exhibition at Tate when it was first announced and yet due to my MA studies and life in general time was ticking by and I thought I had missed it. However, on the 1st February the penultimate day of the exhibiton, I got my chance and went.
As a Tate member it is a little easier to gain entry (as well as having a nice lunch in the members lounge), and was all set, for the purpose of this blog post I wont go into huge detail but have attached the link to the exhibition. The first 3 rooms which (laid out chronologically) was, if I am honest, far to crowded to appreciate the work properly. The issue with this kind of experience in my opinion is the audio tours, as everyone is directed to the first item and then due to its chronological nature the next and the next there is inevitably a queue and a log jam, hundreds of people shuffling along and in places 3 or 4 people deep. This, for me ruined the experience and I only saw a glimpse of the work. After the 4th room this effect seemed to diminish although still very crowded one could actually see the work. I was very impressed with the curation of the show and in particular the lay out of the separate folio pages from numerous books and plates. The star of the show for me was the painting ‘Ghost of a Flea’ (c1819/20). It was exquisite, smaller than I have imagined and although very dark in palette and tone the gold leaf shone brightly making the image bounce.
Another highlight was seeing an original copy of the epic poem ‘Milton’ (published 1810) which was partially written whilst he satyed in Felpham, West Sussex to which I have a connection, with Blake still known for his lifestyle to this day. The exhibition terminated with the image Blake is probably most famous for ‘Europe’ (1827) which i guess is an alagory of where the UK is today, it is about structure, measuring, weighing things up, divisions and connections and ultimately time. I loved it. michael-palmer.art.blog
Michael Palmer 