York Art Gallery
The York Art Galley is a fun and unfussy art museum. The collection is engaging and has been engaged with by curators, students, volunteers, local artists and other visitors.
The special exhibition at the time of my visit was ‘Flesh.’ Rather than simply looking at luminous skin of Madonna’s the exhibition had multiple medias included like sculpture, installation work, photography and painting. It played with the decadence of still lives of ripe fruit and oysters along with the human body. The exhibition was really thought provoking and I am still thinking about it.
One of my favourite bits of the museum was the desk that invited visitors to design and draw their own still life. It encourages curiosity and creativity and was inspired by the collection. The paintings were wonderful as well of course.
Along with the permanant collection galleries the museum had a changing exhibition space upstairs. It was a fun display done by a local artist who drew inspriation from the collection and his art practice. It mixed objects up in a fun and memorable way.
Also housed in the York Art Museum is the Centre of Ceramic Art. It is the premier ceramics centre in the UK. Claire Twomly’s work was so incredibly stunning in the space.
One part of the ceramics institute was organised as if the museum was inside the donor’s house. He felt that ceramics were integral to the home and to remove them would be to sterilise them.
Rating: 5/5
Pros: Interesting interpretation, constantly updating exhibitons, great collection, friendly staff, fun interactives, great for all ages, cute shop, amazing location
Cons: slightly odd layout – you must enter and exit through the gift shop
Liberté (formerly) of London 