The L6^th Form Art, and History of Art, pupils visited the major galleries and museums in London as they kick started their personal investigation projects...

The inaugural overnight art trip to London with our L6^th Form Art pupils has been a great success, with pupils once again ventured out of the classroom to visit the major galleries, such as Tate Modern and Britain, V&A, Royal Academy, Barbican Centre and more, in a quest to generate a series of starting points for their personal investigations, and to begin to open the doors to all that London has to offer within the arts. Also, a huge thank you to Chris Roberts for the guided tour of UAL: Central Saint Martin’s, King’s Cross campus to explore foundation course options in Art & Design. We were completely blown away the scale of the curriculum on offer, facilities, and buzz around campus including some top tips for future applications!

Mr Cole’s exhibition highlight @Tate Modern

Upon arriving at the vast but empty Turbine Hall, our Art Historians had the chance to navigate their way through the vast collections on display at Tate Modern. However, by popular demand pupils chose to dip their toes into a world of glorious strangeness in the 'Surrealism Beyond Borders' exhibition.

As we entered the show, we were confronted by a world of mind-bending optical illusion, surprising collisions, and a reminder that surrealism is still with us. What began as an Avant Garde movement the term ‘Surreal’ has now become ubiquitous and part of our everyday language.

This sprawling survey captures the extraordinary scope of a global artistic explosion and was filled with unlikely conjunctions and unsettling objects, Freudian dreamworlds, nightmares and fantasies. This exhibition succeeded in trying to showcase how expansive and diverse a movement Surrealism was, emerging in the aftermath of the First World War. From Salvador Dalí’s iconic lobster telephone, 1936, to a series of black and white moving imagery, and automatism drawing, there was a real sense of freeing one’s subconscious on an ambitious international scale.

An evening spent at the landmark Barbican Centre was a memorable experience from the Post War Modern exhibition, to a well-earned meal at the canteen before embarking on a well-attended PV of the ‘Barbican Revisited’, an exhibition led by an artist collective who met at Central Saint Martins while doing post-graduate studies in glass. This was a great chance for pupils to sharpen their networking skills and talk about their own work to a wider audience. Whilst keeping one eye on their own summer exhibition, when we open the doors to the wider King’s community. We look forward to making this a permanent fixture as part of the A Level curriculum with the aim to push for more behind the scenes action in future.

Congratulations to the following pupils, Tia, Emma, and Natasha for claiming the art trip prize for their focus and commitment towards hunting and gathering inspiration for their individual thematic projects. Overall, we were impressed by the array of first-hand observational studies produced and recording of ideas by all. Not to mention the impressive photography skills and work submitted for the trip art prize, which captured pupils’ favourite artworks in and out the gallery, including some candid action and staged photos documenting the experience and some of the antics along the way!    

Tia - L6^th Form - Priory House

"The galleries in London were amazing, I really enjoyed walking around the city and seeing famous artists like Van Gogh and Monet first-hand. However, my favourite part was being able to see the history of so many different cultures, like China and Greece, at the V&A. For example, the symbolism and craftsmanship of the Samurai equipment will be a valuable source of inspiration to explore for my theme of “Heroes and Villains”. I’m looking forward to researching into my initial ideas and using this trip as a springboard to develop my project. Overall, the trip was inspiring, I wish we could’ve stayed longer!"

Emma - L6^th Form - Wellesley House

"During the trip, I particularly enjoyed searching for portraits of women in art. I am interested in the evolution of how women have been depicted in art throughout history. Including images of women over time; from paintings to photographs and modernist sculpture such as "Eye, Nose and Cheek" by F.E McWilliam’s at Tate Britain. I will be pursuing this theme in my art history personal investigation, once we return with the help of the experiences, I have had on this trip."

Watch the video filmed by the pupils.

Flickr album: Art Trip to London Galleries - May 2022 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin