Gyre

"Gyre" a circular or spiral motion of form.


This is shot of part of Kate McGwire's sculpture "Gyre" on display currently at the Royal West of England Academy exhibition in Bristol.  Its a large piece, taking up the entire width of one gallery.  The work weaves and winds along the gallery floor like an eel snaking along a riverbed and is covered entirely in crow feathers, that took the artist four years of compulsive collecting to amass.  

Yeat's lines from "The Second Coming" were very much in the forefront of my mind as I thought about the piece.

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity"

Her work is both compelling and repelling, beautiful and grotesque.

We actually set off to see the exhibition "Into the fields: The Newlyn School and other artists" - in particular Harold Harvey's work. Photography wasn't allowed in that exhibition, but here is a link to the RWAs page which gives a taster of some of the paintings exhibited.   In the event as an unexpected bonus there was also an exhibition of James Ravillious's photography of Rural Life which was fascinating.  (Yes Miranda, he is Eric's son and clearly share's his artistic father's sensibilities as his photos are fascinating).