Warhol, tiny script and gracious curves.
Here's the situation, we are in Manchester, it's Saturday morning at 9am, we have parked by the university have been up and about for hours and are ready for some breakfast. The question is where to go?
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| Andy Warhol self portrait at the Whitworth Gallery |
We had parked next to the Whitworth Art Gallery, but that didn't open until 10am. The garden at the rear looked like it had some sculpture on display so we wandered in and discovered the back entrance to the Whitworth, which was open. The galleries were closed up but a staircase led up to a glass sided corridor overlooking the garden and facing us at the end of the corridor was the gallery cafe which was open - excellent, just what was needed.
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| Plato's Disco by David Batchelor above the staircase |
Known as The Cafe in the Trees it is a work of art in itself, we were the first customers of the day so had a perfectly clear vision of the space, and the view of the tops of the trees. It was quite magical with reflected lights and blue/green hints.
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| Cafe in the Trees |
Bacon and sausage butties were ordered and we sipped on our coffees enjoying the scene. A tree next to our table had a small bird scurrying up it, which we identified as a tree creeper. The butties and coffee were spot on and we were enjoying spending time in this lovely space, so much so that by the time we left the cafe the gallery had opened.
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| Wall drawing by Idris Khan |
The first room we visited was showing work by Idris Khan and the most impressive piece for me was a huge wall drawing, True belief belongs to the realm of real knowledge, which looked very textural, almost like a fur rug but was actually created by many tiny, overlapping texts in different scripts. Incredibly detailed close up and amazingly effective across the room.
The next room we entered was hosting ARTIST ROOMS: Andy Warhol. The main focus of the work was triggered by Andy's encounter with death after he was shot in 1968. A graphic photo of his scarred body taken by Richard Avedon shockingly portrays why he would be so obsessed with death. A number of self portraits, the electric chair series and silkscreen prints of $ signs, camouflage and guns are among the works displayed.
I also admired the pen and ink drawings by Deanna Petherbridge on display on the ground floor of the gallery which were incredibly detailed and thought provoking.
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| University of Manchester Old Quadrangle |
After some retail therapy in the gallery shop we left the warmth of the Whitworth to brave the cold streets of Manchester walking down into town through the university area (Oxford Road campus) and came across the University of Manchester Old Quadrangle - tucked in behind Manchester Museum. The fine old buildings of the quad have been undergoing a conservation project since 2010 and are looking in great form. I particularly liked the twisting climber working its way to the top of one of these buildings.
Another area undergoing renovation is St Peters Square in front of the library and I would recommend anyone who hasn't experienced this to take a walk down the curved alleyway between the post office and the library and glance up at the ceiling of the glass walkway linking the two buildings.
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| Architectural curves by the library |
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| Ceiling of the glass walkway between the library and post office |
Following our wanderings through the shopping streets we returned to the university area and found a wonderfully quirky cafe in the Manchester Museum. Known as the Teacup Kitchen it has a tempting and healthy selection of sandwiches, salads, cakes and hot meals (depending on the time of day). We sampled a mix of salads which were quite unusual, very colourful and really tasty. I'm sure they must have counted towards our five a day..!
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