Thoughts on Art at the National Gallery
A quiet moment in the National Gallery reminded me how freely children experience art—and how somewhere along the way, we were taught to overthink it. This piece pairs images and reflections from that visit, as a gentle attempt to break down the invisible walls between us and art.
I was sitting in the National Gallery in London, listening to a teacher sitting on the floor with her class. The children were about 5-6, and she was asking them what places the children had been to.
We were sitting in front of a collection of paintings depicting Venice in the 1800s. The children raised their hands and excitedly told everyone the places they’d been to. The teacher then prompted them to think of their time on these holidays, and whether they’d like a moment to live on from this experience. They quickly moved on, but I sat there, struck by the lightness of this experience of art. It really is that simple.
I later decided to write down the thoughts I was having as I was moving around the gallery. Often when I’m inspired, I write my ideas in a tiny notebook, but I decided to extend this to my thoughts as well as an exercise. It was after a few of these that I noticed I could pair the thoughts with images, and make it into a collection of text on images.
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Kids get art in a carefree way, somehow, as adults, we were taught to believe art needs to be understood to be appreciated. That’s backwards.
You don’t need an arbitrary education level to experience art in a valid and meaningful way. That someday, you’ll reach a level where you suddenly ‘understand’ it, and everything makes sense.
Art is not an exam you pass, it’s a moment you feel.
You also...
...don’t need to get art, to let it get to you.
Sometimes art is really deep, sometimes it’s really light. Sometimes striking you like lightning, other times it rests like sunlight on your shoulder.
If you see yourself in some of these thoughts, then the art is working.
"You don’t need to get art to let it get to you."
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This whole experience got me thinking about how I’d love to break down these barriers to art in the same way, and so I’m going to continue this with more exhibitions, both future and past ones (I have so many images from exhibitions sitting not being used).
I had a lot of fun making this.
Thank you if you got to the end!
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See you soon,
Will.