in der echoes mailingliste gab es einen Besucherbericht von Andy Saltiel:
Hi all,
Last Saturday me and my mate Syd went to the latest exhibition of the real
Syd's work at the Idea Gallery in London (gallery.ideageneration.co.uk/).
It coincides with the launch of the new Barrett Book (www.barrettbook.com),
which is a stunning piece of work in itself.
It claims to be the first and largest exhibition of Syd's work - it ain't
the first, that was the Syd tribute at the Anglia Ruskin University in
Cambridge that was part of City Wakes - but it is the largest as they have
assembled many more artefacts. As the title suggests, it focuses on his
work as an artist and as a person through his letters to early girlfriends
Libby Gausden and Jenny Spires. What it doesn't do is rehash the mythical
acid-casualty Syd and I suspect this is the reason why they managed to get
hold of so much material from Syd's family and friends. There are many
works from the early days, which Syd gave to friends and a few from his
reclusive phase in Cambridge. Sadly few of these survived as Syd would
routinely photograph the complete canvas and then destroy it. They do have
some of the photographs though. What is breathtaking is the vast range of
styles: collage, ink drawing, oils, watercolours etc., etc. Syd did the lot
and did it well. In much the same way as he would produce a song and move
on, it seems he did the same with his art.
They also feature many of his letters to Libby and these provide a
fascinating insight into his life as a student and the early days of Pink
Floyd. He used to include drawings in his letters and he describes
recording with the Floyd and drew the scene in the studio. These reveal
that the playful Syd we know from songs like The Gnome and Effervesing
Elephant was the real Syd. Reading through the letters, especially those
that included a poem, there are intimations of future lyrics. It's easy to
see why he was such a charismatic character.
The third strand of the exhibition is, for me, the most strikiing.
Alongside the usual Mick Rock pictures that we all know so well the curators
have unearthed many previously unseen (by me at least) photographs of the
early Floyd at UFO, the Roundhouse and the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream, many
in colour. There are also some promo shots of the Floyd - Roger Waters in a
cape anyone? - and also shots from a photo shoot done by Irene Winsby.
Where have these been all these years? And most poignant of all there are
the original, dog-eared 5" x 3" black and white prints of some images that
have been reproduced many times of Syd & Libby at Butlins.
So, if you're going to be in London any time soon it's well worth the trip.
The exhibition runs until 10 April.
Cheers,
Andy
+ Bruder Franziskus +
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