Oh Deer!

I gotta say that I wasn't overly enamoured by the prospect of a swim this morning. The pool complex was amazing though! I managed just over 2000m and felt better for it....R went faster and further. After we got changed, we both commented on how, in our respective changing areas, how everyone stripped naked to shower. The Swedes seem to be far more progressive in many things than us Brits.

It was then a crazy mad rush to the amazing Fotografiska gallery and a wonderful brunch that R had booked for us. The restaurant was a swanky loft type area with a glass frontage overlooking the water and Old Stockholm. The food was an amazing 4 course buffet affair. We started with scones, lemon curd, cream and a spiced apple juice. Then came roasted veggies, kale cooked in a cheese sauce, pickles and a slow poached egg topped with a Parmesan foam.  I'm not a pickle fan but these converted me.....I loved the gherkins, onions and little baby mushrooms in a sweet, slightly acidic pickling liquor. Meat eaters also had the choice of smoked salmon and little sausages too. Then came the cheese and charcuterie course with lovely crackers and roasted veggies! After a brief rest came dessert.... a macaron, a chocolate torte, carrot cake and a shortbread biscuit. How tf we managed crumble and custard after that, one will never know. Admittedly, we showed restraint in portion size but I still left feeling like a fois gras goose for most of the day.
 
We then were accompanied to the gallery by a host who talked us though the exhibitions we were about to see. One was by Andres Serrano a Cuban photographer, who's pictures were challenging, with us being warned that some may find shocking. I think we were both made to feel most uncomfortable by the Ku Klux Clan portraits......even though they were just pictures of men wearing stupid hoods. There were other images, of poo and wee wee in a religious context and an overtly sexual project with me seeing stuff I didn’t know even happened. Art such as this fills a void and is an important freedom of expression. Those who seek to ban or sensor such work are probably those who are prisoners of the unsaid truths within their own heads.  Of course, context is everything..... If an artist seeks to offend, rather than to provide new or challenge old perspectives, then they are compromising the freedom of others.
 
The Martin Parr exhibition was a great antidote after Serrano’s work. He documented life (mainly in Britain) in a humorous way and talked to the viewer in a similar way to an observational comedian. He showed things in a way that most of us can relate to, especially the absurdity of 'normal' life and stereotypical people that we all 'know'. An equal of Cartier-Bresson in composition but completely contrasting through his use of colour and far more humorous!


We went back to the apartment to meet Izzy, Rosemary’s partner for ÖTILLÖ later in the afternoon. We then headed back into town for dinner……I still wasn’t hungry but somehow stuffed a veggie burger down. What a brilliant day!