Watch this space - Abstract Expressionism at the RA

The Royal Academy of Art has amassed an immense collection of American works from galleries and private collections (over 100 lenders in total) which include works by artists such as Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Janet Sobel to name just a few.

Abstract Expressionism is widely known as a ground-breaking moment in the formation of modern art. Artists no longer wanted to recreate scenes from life but wanted their spectators to experience paintings physically - for us to 'feel' their emotion through the medium of paint, sculpture and so on. Their often aggressive gestural marks also filled the entirety of the canvas, dispensing with the traditional ideas of composition and geometry. Artists like Jackson Pollock poured, dripped and spilt paint, pushing materials to become free and almost overtake the artist's hand. What was also revolutionary about this way of working was that by desiring physical feelings from their viewer, the Abstract Expressionists weren't creating work just for academics or theorists, but art for all.

There will be some amazing works on display - icons from the movement by the likes of Pollock and Rothko. There's also an assurance that the gender imbalance will be rectified by the inclusion of significant female painters including Janet Sobel and Lee Krasner.

The exhibition will open in September this year.

Hilma af Klint: Painting the Unseen at The Serpentine Gallery

This weekend we visited an extraordinary exhibition at The Serpentine Gallery of a Swedish artist Hilma af Klint. While this exhibition has attracted a huge amount of press, prior to this show she was virtually unknown in the UK.

Being a woman, producing pioneering and unconventional artwork such as this, is probably the greatest reason for af Klint's exception from history. She began her career by painting landscapes and portraits and gained some recognition at that time. It was her protestant upbringing and studies of Theosophy however that was the pivotal inspiration for her abstract works - this was also the first religious group in Europe to accept women in senior positions which must have empowered af Klint herself. Between 1906-07 she created her most revolutionary paintings which derived from automatic drawings she produced during seances - some encompass swirling abstract patterns, others follow geometric structured diagrams.

She painted the work below in 1907, years before Kandinsky or Mondrian or Malevich had ventured into abstraction. Looking into her colourful swirls, bold splatters and geometric shapes painted in the early 1900s it is undeniable that af Klint is a true pioneer of abstraction. 

Hilma af Klint was certainly a complex and creative character, drawing on spiritual experiences and unconscious thoughts. This is an unmissable exhibition and an important step in making sure that she gains recognition - open until May 15th 2016.