Visited the Tate Modern with a friend to see the Rothko exhibition there, i felt a kind of moral obligation as a practicing artist and art historian and was surprised with how i found it. To be honest i didnt really know what to think, i had seen the posters but didnt really know what to expect from the paintings in person. Stepping into room three, i was slowly filled with a warmth, the expansive room, with over 10 very large paintings really calmed me and i couldnt help but smile. There was a sort of vibrating hum of energy that i couldnt put my finger on. It must have been contagious because my friend felt it too, every new painting we walked around to see (bar some of the more lurid, brighter orange ones) we both experienced this similar sense of deep satisfaction. It was possibly something to do with the scale, as well as the enticing, feathery edges to the geometric shapes that allowed us to just stand happily for lengthy periods of time. Something in the far corner of the room drew my attention. Above is pictured "Red on Maroon" of 1959, a distinctly luminous surface lures you in from a distance, and the fleeting layering of paint in that simple and pure rectangular shape keep you rooted in front of it.
I felt some sort of emotional connection with most of the works, the more i looked, the more i noticed (quite literally) and the more i felt myself become attached to individual pieces. I came back with 3 postcards which on inspection have nothing of the same effect. It really is one of those things you have to go and see.
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