Back at the MAC
“I don’t know what art schools are like now, but I’m told they don’t do drawing. That seems a bit mad to me that.”
Hockney Exhbition | The MAC, Belfast
Finding ourselves with an hour to kill on a rainy Saturday in Belfast, we finally got the chance to check out the MAC's latest major exhibition - "I Draw, I Do" - the first significant presentation of David Hockney's work in Ireland.
No matter how many times we've been to the MAC, we always have the urge to take a photo of the inside of the building. Despite knowing that it will be the exact same photo as all the previous ones we've taken, it always feels like the first time we've been wowed by the brickwork and vast vertical space.
Even the Family Room always catches the eye on the way in. Normally buzzing with the sound of kids laughing, on this occasion we managed to arrive just as three families had just left - the seat elephants' ears were still ringing.
After chatting with the friendly team at the box office for five minutes, we got our tickets and headed up to the Tall Gallery - the exhibition is free, the tickets are only to control the number of people in the gallery at any one time. It's a popular one.
Even with the usual chilled out atmosphere of a gallery, there was still a nice buzz about the place with families, tourists, students, young and old checking out the many interesting areas. Though the 'hero' of the exhibition is "Le Plongeur" (aka "The Diver"), our favourites were the two side-by-side colourful green paintings in the smaller room of the gallery. In quite a bright room full of mostly white and black pieces, the colours were eye-catching.
Get down to the MAC before the exhibition closes - there are around 30 other pieces to check out.
And don't forget to head up to the huge Upper Gallery - where you can check out a real thinker of a sculpture, "Calender", by Keith Wilson. It's a big'un!
