This afternoon I decided that it was about time I responded to promptings from various friends, and checked out the current Biennale exhibition at the Dean Clough Gallery, in Halifax. What an interesting experience it was in comparison with my trip last Saturday to see the Patchings Festival. In comparison with the Halifax event the Patchings exhibition was safe and tame, instead of challenging and exciting. I’m afraid I’ve never appreciated before what a stultifying effect The Artist and its stable-mates have on our perception of art. The Halifax show was diverse, and adventurous. There’s art, and there’s art.
The sense of adventure was increased by the range of other exhibitions on display simultaneously in the Dean Clough complex. An American painter, Judy Sale, has a solo show there. Doug Binder has a gallery to himself. There is a photographic exhibition and the space devoted also to the Dean Clough collection. It is about two years since I looked in on a show there, but I have been reminded pretty strongly that the place is worth checking out regularly. So much happens there. To my shame, I make a fuss about going to London twice a year but neglect the experience on my own doorstep.