Last Tuesday the Year 11 textile and fine art students took a trip to London to the Tate Britain and Tate Modern to find inspiration for the GCSE theme ‘locks’. By looking through both museums we were able to view a large range and variety of artwork. This trip encouraged us all to deeply analyse the art and think about ways that we could incorporate different shapes, colours, ideas and more into our final exam project. My favourite museum was the Tate Britain, because it had a lot of artworks which inspired me for the theme ‘lock’. I really enjoyed the exhibition by Maria Bartuszová as she dedicated her art to exploring relationships between people, nature, matter and form which helps me explore the trapped and locked nature of relationships.

Kate S, Year 11

From the Tate Britain, the photography students went to two galleries via the tube: the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Photographers’ Gallery. At the V&A, we expored Maurice Broomfield’s Industrial Sublime exhibition. It was incredibly interesting, and we found much in relation to our theme. At the Soho Photographers’ Gallery my personal favourite was Gideon Mendel’s Fire / Flood exhibition. His powerful imagery reminded us of how much we have lost already to the horrors of the climate crisis. “Since 2007, Mendel has made twenty trips to document floods in thirteen countries, witnessing a shared human experience of climate catastrophe that transcends geographical, cultural and economic divides.”

Overall the trip was fruitful, albeit the coach ride was slow!

Words and photos by Will T, Year 11.