The Curatorial Backlogs : General Notes from 2023

Amanda Baldi
Jan 1
5 min read

In 2023 I was studying in London, getting my Masters in Art History and Visual Culture. While there I kept a comprehensive Curatorial Notebook. Below are general observations I made after going to 23 Exhibitions from December 2022 through April 2023.

A work by Sarah Sze at the Tate Modern in London, England

Below is an all inclusive list of all the exhibitions I viewed. This list includes ones that were not written about in depth, and thus some will not have a comprehensive post coming. I've starred (*) the ones that will have their own separate post.

Strange Clay @ Hayward Gallery – December 23
Pip & Pop : When Flowers Dream @ Kew Gardens– December 26
The Twist Museum - January 27
Jenkin van Zyl : Surrender @ Edel Assanti Gallery - February 7 *
Cecila Vicuna : Brain Forest Quipu @ Tate Modern – February 13
Hallyu The Korean Wave @ V&A – February 16
The Horror Show @ Somerset House - February 17 *
Grace Ndiritu : The Healing Pavilion @ Wellcome Collection – February 21*
Jim Naughten : Objects in Stereo @ Wellcome Collection – February 21
Bridget Smith : Field Recordings @ Frith Street Gallery – February 28
The Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize @ The Photographers Gallery – March 13
David Hockney : Bigger and Closer (not smaller & father away) – March 21*
Atiena R. Kilfa : The Unhomely @ Camden Arts Center – March 28
Mohammed Sami, The Point 0 @ Camden Arts Center – March 28
Zadie Xa : House Gods, Animal Guides and Five Ways to Forgiveness @ Whitechapel Art Gallery – April 6
Delaine Le Bas & Damian Le Bas : The House of Le Bas @ Whitechapel Art Gallery – April 6
Exhibition Action, Gesture Performance : Feminism, the Body and Abstraction @ Whitechapel Art Gallery – April 6
Ground Floor @ Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museums – April 10
Portraits of Dogs @ Wallace Collection – April 11*
Ai Wei Wei: Making Sense @ Design Museum – April 11*
Mike Nelson : Extinction Beckons @ Hayward Gallery – April 14*
The Ugly Duchess @ National Gallery – April 17*
Anila Quayyum Agha: All the Flowers are for me @ Kew gardens – April 14*
Nalini Malini : My Reality is Different @ National Gallery - April 17

This page just notes a few common threads I’ve noticed over the past few months of exhibitions and exhibition styles in general.

I’ve noted a lot of galleries leaning away from the traditional white walled gallery spaces and utilizing colorful walls (often jewel tones). I find this to be successful about half the time. When paired with low lighting (such as at the Portraits of Dogs exhibition) the space becomes fairly claustrophobic.
Low lighting has become more common in exhibitions, with spotlights highlighting the works. Sometimes this means the names of items/plaques are difficult to read
The canon of the traditional art gallery setting seems to be/has already shifted from bright lights and white walls to low lighting and colorful walls. How long will it take before this becomes boring to the general public? Some instances it really works and adds to the experience, while others it adds nothing and may be argued even detracts or distracts from the experience.
Audio guides are becoming increasingly popular - this is helpful for information but tends to create more congested spaces as people want to listen to the full explanation before moving on to the next piece (understandably). Sometimes the explanations are a bit too long, and when paired with a plethora of reading materials as well, some exhibitions are too information dense (Hallyu! & Naughten) At the same time, I think it is easier to better understand works when there are plaques with information on pieces. When there isn’t, often times the gallery attendants are knowledgeable;
however there are some galleries (like the Hayward Gallery) where attendants aren’t as knowledgeable and I think this is a flaw in the gallery set up as additional information is difficult to come by. It is a delicate balance I think few places have figured out.
“Immersive” Exhibitions - many things claim the catchy term immersive, but I find few are actually effective. “Immersive” in galleries seem to be leaning toward heavily projection based works. This is certainly a type of immersive art, but I think it is the least interesting version and the most overdone. Immersive Arts offer something new to the viewer and the potential to be more accessible and inviting to everyday viewers as long as interest and attention is kept. I’ve found people leave experiences like Hockney’s underwhelmed and uninterested in attending more immersive exhibitions because they believe they will all be like that. I think in order to be properly effective there needs to be more active interaction between the viewer and the work.
It’s been quite interesting to note how exhibitions are chosen for specific locations based on how it fits the mission statements/themes found in a specific gallery or setting. For instance, the exhibitions on view at Kew Gardens fit very well due to the subject matter the curators choose to display (botanicals), or even Hallyu! At the V&A being a cultural and visually interesting display that has a section highlighting clothing (something on display at various points in the museum in whole)
When it comes to larger museums and exhibitions, permanent or not, it is interesting to see which address problematic colonialist pasts and which don’t and their approach to addressing it. One museum that I think addresses it fairly well is the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. They have taken all human remains off display within the entirety of the museum. They take the space that once held the shrunken heads (an item the museum was known for) on the ground floor to address how displaying human remains can be unethical and also act as a way to further other of non-western cultures. The museum didn’t just take out the remains and pretend they never existed, they addressed the role the museum had in its colonialist past. They also maintain one of the main arguments people have in showing human remains, which is that you can learn so much academically from viewing them, by having accurate and realistic casts of bones when they feel it necessary to include for an academic scientific perspective.
Some of my favorite curatorial moments lie in the small moments when works interact with one another. This tends to occur most when related works/pieces that can communicate are opposite or adjacent to one another in a space. I think this is because the work's ideas and concepts are still prevalent in the viewer's mind when they turn to take in the next piece. These are the moments that curators are creating opportunities for conversation and observations from the viewer to gain insight into the subtext.