With graduation behind you and a wonderfully intimidating Rest Of Your Life laid out ahead of you, you may be feeling a bit daunted by the future. Lets focus on a period of time that lies ahead of us that’s a little less daunting: summer. Specifically, summery work
s of art you may stumble upon or seek out during your long and lazy summer (of unemployment).
Image: Wikimedia
1. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (National Gallery, London)
A cultural classic, an artistic icon, and often mistakably thought to be just on painting. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers consist of two series of still life sunflower paintings Van Gogh did. The Paris Sunflowers, a series of sunflowers lying on the ground; the second series, The Arles Sunflowers, are of sunflowers in vases. It is one of these than can be seen in London’s National Gallery. There is a chance you may find yourself in London this summer. Be through holiday, internship, or maybe you’ll be lucky enough to find yourself residing in London post-uni, in a £1000 a month studio flat with no double glazing and some rather questionable damp patches. If you’re there, make your way to the National Gallery and have a peep at the Sunflowers residing there. Their warm colours and wibbly-wonky shapes can’t help but conjure up a feeling of lazing in glorious french sun in summer, a glass of iced tea in one hand, a book in the other and a sunflower in your hair.
Image: Instagram, @gwhale_photo
2. The Remnants of SUPERFLEX’s One Two Three Swing! (Tate Modern, London)
If you do find yourself in London and the weather permits it, make your way over to the Tate Modern too. not only does its new Blavatnik building have one of London’s finest viewing platforms, but behind the gallery you can now find the swings featured in SUPERFLUX’s exhibition in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall earlier this year. As long as you’re willing to battle with the swarms of children fighting for a go on the swings, you and two or three pals can share one of the multi-seat swings and relive a moment in your childhood when university was still to come and you thought it was 100% fact that when you became an adult houses would be affordable, jobs would be accessible and the future wouldn’t really be all that daunting.
Image: Amelia Webb
3. The Worker’s Maypole (Monument, Newcastle)
Many of you with a particularly attentive eye may already have noticed this one, but for the less attentive grads among you, allow me to enlighten you. Newcastle’s very own Grey’s Monument has been transformed into what looks like a gigantic seaside Stick of Rock. It has in fact however been turned into a giant Maypole. Zoe Walker & Neil Bromwich have dropped this colourbomb in the centre of Newcastle as a celebration of the collective values of the North East, with said values stitched into the fabric. If you have time to kill between graduation and your celebratory grad meal with your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cats, etc., be sure to check it out. Let it give you a most beautiful and colourful send-off from University, and for some, from Newcastle altogether. Its vibrancy will hopefully remind you of all the happy times you’ve had at university, as well as the glow of the tacky multicoloured Flares dance floor we all love to hate, yet secretly treasure.