Clegg Hall

I went out earlier than usual, to get my walk done before the forecast thunderstorms. Clouds were building on a hot, humid morning.

I first heard the New Zealand band Salmonella Dub on my first visit there almost 20 years ago. I have several of their albums but, before today, had not heard Inside the Dub Plates  on which my favourite track was Platetechtonics.

Two British Pop Artists today.  Richard Hamilton was one of the movement's pioneers, having worked in advertising and commercial art. His paintings, prints and photomontages explored aspects of popular culture, using juxtapositions of well-known images. His Just What Is It That Makes Yesterday's Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) is made up of advertising images to satirise consumerism. Three details are interesting - the use of the word "Pop" on a sign held in a strategic position; a view through a window of a cinema advertising The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture and a symbol of technological progress; a portrait of John Ruskin on the wall, a critic who believed art should tell the truth and expound the artist's moral outlook.

Peter Blake is probably the best known Pop Artists from the UK, not least for works such as the album cover for the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper. One of his earliest works was Siriol, She-devil of Naked Madness (1957.) A hermaphrodite figure wears a tunic adorned with gems - an image inspired by circus billboards.