26 November 2016

Hospital art

While sitting in Moorfields Eye Hospital's 24-hour A&E, I spotted some art on the wall -
No information about whose work it might be, and it does look rather dull on that institutionally bare wall. There was a companion piece on another wall (try to ignore the reflections) -
I liked the wavy lines making different kinds of nets - or looking like an electromagnetic force field.

A day later, I'm in the vitreoretineal clinic, finding the pleasant surprise of prints by Albert Irvin (again, please overlook the reflections) -
black on black

Concordia II, 1997
Although there is a platemark (as with an etching plate), the marks go outside the embossed area; the flat areas of colour are the primary clue that these are screenprints, a surmise confirmed by a little research: he "had a short-lived foray into lithography in 1975. He then began a screenprinting career in 1980 with Advanced Graphics London. The collaborative approach of screenprinting, although a new and very different outlet from painting, still allowed Irvin to display many of his characteristic traits as an artist."

Art on the walls give something to think about while fretting about possible nasty outcomes. Fortunately for me, all the fretting turned out to have been wasted energy - thank goodness!

And thank goodness for the NHS and wonderful facilities like Moorfields.

2 comments:

Sandy said...

Oh dear. Eye Hospital! You had me on tenterhooks till I reached the end of the post.
But good that there was art to distract you!
Sandy

Charlton Stitcher said...

Oh gosh ... how very disquieting even though the worrying wasn't needed. It takes a while to forget the insecurity such situations things bring.