111op

I had planned a trip to Brussels and London a few weeks ago to see a couple of things: the carpet show at Grand'Place (once every two years), the Breugel show and the Royal Academy summer art show in London.

This was a bit of a major production, as the only flight I could take was a Continental flight for Brussels at 7 pm. I had to work the Friday I was due to leave, and I was concerned that I wouldn't have enough time to check in. I was so concerned that I decided to do a dry run for Newark by taking a bus there on Wednesday.

Then the next day, the terrorist news broke, which, of course, changed everything. First I cancelled my flights. Finally on Friday morning, I decided to go.

In the end, the trip went quite well, given the circumstances. I couldn't rebook a hostel that I had booked and cancelled, and a friend put me up instead.

I saw the following shows:

Brussels

Breugel at the Royal Library
Carpet Show
Summer of Photography
--Click/Doubleclick (BOZAR)
--Helsinki School (Town Hall

London

Bill Viola at Haunch of Venison
White Cube
Albert Oehlen at Whitechapel
ICA "Surprise, Surprise"
"Not the Royal Academy" -- Llewellyn Alexander
Kandinsky and Pierre Huyghe at Tate Modern
Thomas Demand at Serpentine
Constable and Howard Hodgkin at Tate Britain
Royal Academy Summer Art Show

Obviously since I had one weekend, I'm using the word "saw" very liberally. I didn't have as much time for many of the shows as I really wanted.

A more detailed trip report follows.

111op

August 12 in Brussels

I'll write more about the art shows separately.

Arrival

Instead of arriving in Brussels at the scheduled 8:20 am, I arrived around 9:40. Fortunately I could take a carryon for this leg of the trip, so I went through immigration and took a train for the city center. Here I made a pretty amateurish mistake. The first stop was Brussels Nord, which I mistook for Brussels Midi, where the Eurostar trains depart. My plan to leave my bag in a locker at Midi and then take the train for Central to do some sightseeing.

I was not dressed for the weather. I was surprised that it was in the low 50s in Brussels. I had to pull out the only long-sleeve shirt I brought with me.

Anyway, timewise, my mistake wasn't very costly. Within a minute or two I had realized that I had gotten off at the wrong station, and I quickly scanned monitors for the next departure for Midi. This turned out to be a train from Holland.

That train, instead, made a stop at Central first. I decided not to waste any more time and just carry my bag with me. I didn't have that much anyway, and it was quite light at this stage.

Grand'Place

Though my objective was the Bruegel show, I ended up at Grand'Place first. The layout of the city confuses me. In fact, most European cities have layouts that confuse me, having developed organically from settlements from a long time ago.

The flower carpet show runs once every two years. I timed my arrival to coincide with the show this year as I'd never seen it before. This turned out to look, well, just like a flower carpet. It wasn't as impressive as I was expecting. But the square was very pleasant, and for a change I was able to look at the buildings without scaffolding. It seemed that whenever I was in Brussels, there was always something going on that prevented me from enjoying the magnificence of these medieval buildings. Sections were covered, or else there was something else set up in the square that constructed my views. But not this time.

I also went to see a show on photographs from the Helsinki School at Town Hall. I decided any "school" was probably worth investigating (think Leipzig School, Duesseldorf School, etc.). I wondered what Finnish photography was like. This was a very small show, and I'd have had to pay 6 euros had the cashier not shown some sympathy and charged me 4.50 euros only. His colleague had asked me how old I was (in French), and he asked me how old I was in English. When I told him, he either misheard, or he just wanted me to be nice to me and charged me the under 25 rate. I'm, sadly, way over 25.

When I left, his female colleague asked me if I wanted some "documentation" for the show. I thought that she wanted to give me a private tour, so I declined. But really she wanted to give me a booklet with more information about the photographers. "It's normally one euro, but I'll give it to you for free. You can read it on the train."

Bruegel Show

I then went to the Royal Library, which is having a show on Bruegel. This turned out to be a disappointment. I didn't have much time for the show, but I really didn't miss much anyway, as I didn't think that the reproductions were so great. Reproductions of the paintings were shown in the lower level, whereas the prints were exhibited separately on the main level.

I did buy the catalogue so that I could do some research on Bruegel's accepted complete paintings. Instead of the 42 Bruegels listed in Taschen, the show showed reproductions of 41 paintings.

Palais des Beaux Arts (BOZAR)

The main show for the summer of photography exhibition is "Click Doubleclick" at BOZAR. I'd never been to BOZAR and was expecting a palace of some sort, but from the outside, it looked more like an unassuming theatre. Though I had carefully mapped out all the various shows within the city center, in the end, I only had time to see this show (apart from the one on the Helsinki school).

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in to hear some very familiar music. An artist had chosen Bach's "Goldberg Variations" for a video installation (I didn't get the name of the artist).

Pierre Marcolini

I finally left photography for chocolates as I was really running out of time. I bought four 250g black boxes of chocolates (one to give to T3 and one to A when I'd see them in London) and a box of the new summer creations. I spent 85 euros on chocolates. The black boxes were 15 euros each, whereas the summer creations were 25 euros.

Departure

My Eurostar train was booked for 12:58 pm. I made it to Midi station about half an hour prior. I was a bit concerned about potential disruptions, but this was also a breeze. There were no lines at the counter where I picked up my ticket.

I had to go through UK immigration at the station. The officer told me that Heathrow was still suffering from disruptions.

I had been in such a rush that I didn't have time for a bathroom visit. I decided that now was the time. Also I bought a sandwich and a Vittel to take with me on the train. The sandwich was horrible, a far cry from what one could get from Paul in Paris train stations.

About two and a half hours later I arrived in Waterloo station in London. I checked my bag at the station (6 pounds -- my first taste of sticker shock in London) and called abc to see what he was up to. He was unpacking, so I said that I'd be calling later. I tried calling xyz also, but I was unable to reach her. We had planned to meet on Sunday anyway.

Then I was off for my adventures in London.

CAPH52

Sorry, 111op, but you might want to copy and paste this and re-post it on the Europe forum.

111op

I had a long laundry list of art shows I wanted to see in London. Most (all?) private galleries close on Sundays, so I started with them first.

Paul Smith Near Bond Street

My first stop was the Bond Street tube station. I knew from past trips that there is a Citibank nearby. I try to withdraw cash from Citibank whenever possible as I bank with them.

This gave an excuse to do some window shopping also. I always have trouble remembering where the Paul Smith outlet store on Avery Row is. Anyway, I managed to find it. They had the exact shirt I was wearing on sale for 29 pounds -- and in two other colors. I love this shirt. It has an Indian-like motif and is the perfect summer shirt (I had changed into this short-sleeve shirt for London, but London wasn't much warmer). I thought about buying one in blue, but they didn't have size S. Then I thought about buying my same exact shirt, but finally decided against it.

Haunch of Venison

My objective for being in this area was really to see the Bill Viola video installations at Haunch of Venison in conjunction with the Tristan Project. He was invited to collaborate on performances of the opera Tristan und Isolde. There were performances in LA, and they come to NYC the coming season, where each act will be staged on a separate night in the (Park Avenue?) Armory.

To find Haunch of Venison, I stumbled upon the Handel House Museum and asked for directions there. I didn't realize that there's such a museum in London. Haunch of Venison is across the street.

More Window Shopping

I couldn't resist going into a Bally, then a Nicole Farhi, all along Bond Street. But thankfully, I buy nothing, telling myself that I still have a brand new pair of Bally shoes I bought a while ago.

Photographers' Gallery

I next went to Photographers' Gallery near Leicester Square. The gallery was showing film stills from Antonioni's Blow Up, a movie I've wanted to see but haven't yet managed to catch (I missed this most recently at the BAM Antonioni retrospective). Anyway, I didn't have much time, and I was more interested in the prints the gallery had for sale. The print sales department was located a couple of doors down, so I went there. I was surprised that some of the images online looked quite different from the actual photographs. Fortunately I didn't have time to spend any money. One nice print was by the landscape photographer Jem Southam. (It's not listed on the website -- I wonder why.) I forget how much it was, but I thought about getting it.

White Cube

My next stop was White Cube. I checked the time, and it was close to 4:30 at this stage, I decided to give Victoria Miro a pass even though the gallery is nearby. I was interested in seeing Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry's new work, but since I don't really know his work, I didn't think that this would be a great loss (the show, however, seems to have good reviews).

Just a few months ago, A, her boyfriend and I had visited White Cube. However I decided to visit again to check out the editioned prints. One of the guys at the gallery was very nice and helpful to me, but I secretly rejoiced when he said that I wouldn't be able to buy anything that day anyway as the artwork had to be properly invoiced.

Interestingly, the show at the gallery was one on works by blue-chip artists which were largely monochromatically black. There was a Sugimoto seascape with a black horizonal "zip" for the horizon. There was even a small Ad Reinhardt painting called "Abstract Painting," where the cruciform/cross was much discernible than the one in the MoMA painting.

Out of curiosity I asked for the price of the Reinhardt painting. It turned out that all the works in the show belonged to private collections and thus were not for sale.

Albert Oehlen at Whitechapel

Since I spent more time in White Cube than I had expected, I didn't leave until 5:20 or so. There was really one more possible stop before 6 pm. I opted for the Albert Oehlen show at the Whitechapel Gallery. This gallery, I believe, had much to do with the development of the art scene in the East End of London.

At this point, I called abc to make plans for the evening. I said that I'd head off to the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) to catch yet another show. Then I'd stop by the Tate Modern. abc, wisely, decided to meet me after I was finished with ICA.

ICA

I didn't know that there is yet another column in London apart from Nelson's column called the Duke of York column. ICA is located at the base of this memorial. The gallery closes at 7:30 pm, but the place is apparently open for drinks until late (1 am?) during the weekends.

I went there to see "Surprise, Surprise": "But the forty high-profile artists taking part will in fact be displaying pieces that are atypical of the work for which they are best known."

This was a fun show, and I had to pull myself away. I was running late for my meeting with abc.

Not the Royal Academy

The Royal Academy summer art show, which I first learned about from the New York Times, provided me with an excuse to go to London. The same article mentions the Llewellyn Alexander gallery, which shows "rejects" from the show in a manner analogous to the Salon des Refuses in Paris.

I told abc that I'd be there at 7, but I arrived in Waterloo station around 7:15. By the time I extricated myself from the Waterloo maze, I had five minutes before the gallery would close.

Still, I had a pleasant chat with the folks there. The Mark Santler painting of a woman with her voluptuous breasts (on the webpage) was yet unsold. Perhaps a conflict with traditional British decoration schemes, as one of the guys wrily noted.

Tate Modern

abc and I then went to the Tate Modern. I ambitiously wanted to see both the Kandinsky and the Pierre Huyghe shows. abc wisely opted out of the Huyghe. Halfway through the Kandinsky I was really fatigued. I started dozing off on a couch. But fortunately I recovered shortly to see both shows.

Then around 9:15 pm, abc suggested that we go eat. I wanted to see the photographs in the UBS collection. It turned out that abc had seen this a few weeks ago. Anyway, it was quite small, so I zipped through it.

We then went to Waterloo to pick up my bag (bag check closed at 11 pm). Since it was quite cold, we decided to take the tube at Southwark. I changed into my long sleeve shirt again and wore a T-shirt underneath.

Dinner

abc wanted to check out Momo. I was concerned that I would be a bit out of place for it with my bag as I thought I had read somewhere that it's considered fashionable. Anyway, we arrived and there was no seating available, but the restaurant looked perfectly casual.

I remembered that xyz had mentioned Mildreds. It's vegetarian. We arrived at 10:30 and were told that it'd close promptly at 11. Here I called xyz to let her know I was in town.

I liked this restaurant, and I was quite hungry. Dinner was my first proper meal that day. I had an aubergine curry, and abc had a burger with sweet potato fries. I ordered organic Sicilian lemonade (which came served in a bottle). abc had some juice, I think. We shared some dumplings, which turned out to be horribly overpriced (5 dumplings for 4.95 pounds?!).

There was an optional 12.5% service charge added, and the bill was 30.25 pounds. I was reluctant to part with a 50 p coin, so we ended up paying 30.22. I hope the waitstaff didn't think we were cheapskates.

But really, things are expensive in London.

Andrew Edmunds, where xyz, def and I had dinner once, is across from Mildreds. Also we found a Wagamama on the same street. I had dinner in this Japanese noodles shop one year, though I can't recall when.

abc's Apartment

My very long day finally ended at abc's apartment. abc was putting me up for the evening graciously as the St. Paul's hostel was booked when I called back to rebook after my cancellation.

Though I set my alarm, thinking that I'd go out after a nap, after going to bed around 1:30 am, I couldn't force myself to get up from the couch when the alarm rang. I slept until 9 am or so in the morning.

111op

Oops, sorry about that.

Fodor's sets the default to US.

FainaAgain

Oh, boy, what a strange day today!

But a nice report, I must say.

Why do I rhime?
Must be my prime time.

starrsville

That happened to me earlier today - much to my regret!

Great report 111op!

111op

Thanks. Sorry to top this in the US forum, but did you guys read the rest in the Europe forum? If not, you must do so now. (Just kidding.)