Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens
(1 February to 2 March 2025)
…
along with a brief reprise of ‘Expressions in Blue’ by Felicity Aylieff in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery (on until 23 March 2025)
• Barbara Hepworth: Strings at Piano Nobile, 96 and 129 Portland Road, London W11 4LW (on until 2 May 2025)
• Looks Delicious at Japan House, High Street Kensington, London W8 (finished Sunday 16 February 2025)
Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens, Kew, Richmond TW9 3AE
(This exhibition is staged in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, near the Broad Walk and The Hive, so you should walk to the right, actually north confusingly, as you enter by the Victoria Gate from the underground, or past the Family Kitchen & Shop and Children’s Garden area, actually east, from the Brentford Gate entrance if driving or parking.)
I visited this exhibition on yet another icy cold, grey, dank day, as a friend particularly wanted to see it. I booked a 10.00 am time slot. Entry is free for Members, including one guest, but a timed-entry slot is necessary for anyone wanting to see the exhibition during its short run.
The Princess of Wales Conservatory is nearly 50 000 sq ft in size, with ten computer-controlled climate zones. Each year the Kew team manages to incorporate a spectacular array of orchids, generally featuring those from a particular country. This year it is Peru, and information boards cover all sorts of facts about the country, its people, traditions, daily lives and, of course, the orchids themselves. Staff explained that most of the orchids are not actually brought in from Peru; the Netherlands is the main sourcing point. Many plants from Kew’s own nurseries are also included.
Numerous pots throughout contain mixed arrangements of spectacular orchids. They are presented on the ground, near water, suspended in the air and in specially made environmentally friendly displays. There are depictions of flamingos, butterflies, cornucopias and various animals.
We spent about an hour walking through at a leisurely pace. It was not as crowded as I had feared, but it was a cold Monday morning and not yet half term. Judging by the lengthy queues I have seen on busier days, there will be times when it is harder to move through, especially if you wish to stop for photos or simply admire the flowers.
This is an amazing show for anyone interested in the exotic world of orchids. I was pleased to see it this year, though I have always found orchids rather ‘other’, as there are so many other fantastic plants I prefer.
Runs until Sunday 2 March 2025, and it is very heavily booked with timed entry required. Admission is included in the cost of entry to Kew Gardens, which varies: £22 (£24 including donation) if booked online; £25 (£27.50 including donation) on the gate. Members go free, may bring a guest and receive 10 per cent discount in the shop.
While at Kew I also visited the Shirley Sherwood Gallery for Felicity Aylieff’s exhibition Expressions in Blue. It is well worth a visit, and do allow time to watch the short film explaining the artist’s process.
The recently extended Winter Garden, between the Victoria Gate and the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, is also lovely, with fragrant daphnes, mahonias, winter box, viburnums and edgeworthias, plus bright dogwoods and carpets of snowdrops, cyclamen and aconites—evidence that spring is on its way.
Barbara Hepworth: Strings at Piano Nobile, 96 and 129 Portland Road, London W11 4LW
I am a fan of this gallery, split between two buildings at the top of Portland Road in W11/Holland Park, very close to the now reopened Julie’s Restaurant.
I reviewed RB Kitaj’s retrospective there in TASV Reviews No. 6 (October November 2023) and was invited to the private view of this exhibition. Arranged chronologically over the two galleries, the larger building at number 129 houses Hepworth’s earlier Strings series works from 1939 to 1971, created after her move to St Ives. The materials range from plaster, metal, wood and stone to drawings and paintings for sculptures. Her grasp of mechanical principles was remarkable, though some works did require restringing after mishaps in handling.
The show includes maquettes of larger sculptures and several preparatory drawings and paintings. Most pieces are small—including her so-called ‘hand sculptures’—so nothing is taller than about five feet.
In the smaller gallery at number 96, the later pieces in the series are displayed over two floors. Almost all loans are from private collections, making this a rare chance to see such a gathering of these works. My favourites included Hollow oval (January) 1965 in bronze with strings; Three curves with strings Gold Min Carlo 1971, one of the last in the series; and Small stone with black strings 1952, the only alabaster sculpture in the series.
If you are in W11, do pop in to Piano Nobile for this beautiful exhibition, and perhaps enjoy a light lunch at Julie’s afterwards.
Runs until Friday 2 May 2025. Entry is free. A stunning catalogue, written by Michael Regan with contributions by Eleanor Clayton and Stephen Feeke, is available (£68, also online). Open 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Tuesday to Friday, 11.00 am to 4.00 pm Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday.
Website www.piano-nobile.com
Looks Delicious at Japan House London, 107 to 111 High Street Kensington, London W8 5SA
This exhibition examines Japan’s food-replica culture known as shokuhin sanpuru. It traces developments in materials, techniques and processes since the craft first emerged after WWII to display restaurant menus to visitors unable to read Japanese. Skilled artists have refined the craft into ever more elaborate forms, producing mouthwatering replicas.
The exhibition shows the process: mould making with liquid silicone, careful addition of colours and finishes to mimic steak with vegetables and sauces. Finishes are applied by hand using brushes, sprays and other methods. Some items are astonishingly lifelike, especially noodle broths and soups that look liquid from any angle.
A hands-on area invites visitors to try making their own bento boxes of replicas. There is also coverage of educational uses in portion control, balanced diets and the future potential of food-replica technology.
Even after a Sunday lunchtime visit on a cold grey day, I did not feel any hungrier on leaving Kensington High Street.
Finished Sunday 16 February 2025. Japan House London always hosts novel exhibitions in its basement space. It is open daily and entry is free.
Website www.japanhouselondon.uk
For various reasons this past month has been a little thin on exhibitions for me. In the next issue of Critics Corner I hope to review Goya to Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection at The Courtauld, Collecting Modernism: Pablo Picasso to Winifred Nicholson at Charleston in Lewes, Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery and The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence at the V A.
No responses yet