AbEx: MAKING A SPLASH

You get that right tickin’ rhythm, man, and its ON!

Fats Waller

 A short film inspired by the Royal Academy’s current exhibition of Abstract Expressionism (or ‘AbEx’), the first major survey since 1959.

On seeing these mugs in the RA shop
A cuppa of Art’s desiccation
Expression’s commodification
In the pink as we drink
Or wash up in the sink
And domesticate radicalization.

Recently, making my way towards Waterloo Bridge from the Courtauld Gallery, where I had seen a very different exhibition (Rodin and Dance), I photographed the south side of the Strand wonderfully gilded by a fine evening sky and before the Christmas lights had been switched on.