The Weekly Wall | #011 | David Tremlett ‘Drawing for Free Thinking’, Tate Britain
Manton Foyer and Stairs,
Nearest Station: Pimlico
This week I took a well overdue trip to the Tate Britain for a spot of culture at the cultural Rachel Whiteread exhibition. For those of you that have been to the building in the last five years (ahem, unlike me), you’ll be well aware of this week’s ‘Weekly Wall’ – the colourful constructivism of David Tremlett’s ‘Drawing for Free Thinking’ accessed by the gallery’s Manton entrance.
Wrapped around the Tate Britain’s Manton stairwell, the wall was actually created by Tremlett and his team of assistants with only pastel crayons which were rubbed directly onto the wall with the palms of their hands over the course of only a mere twelve days. Who would have thought it?
Inspired by the long tradition of twentieth-century constructivism and by Tremlett’s involvement in conceptual art in the 1970s, ‘Drawing for Free Thinking’ consists of broad blocks of strong colour much like those found in the Bauhaus movement, straight lines, squares and rectangles. It explores floor plans and architectural features the artist encountered at the gallery such as doorways and windows abstracted into geometric shapes. The integrated glass window in the right-hand side corner shows a peek into another gallery space and allows the art to become somewhat immersive, if you go and stand and strike a pose like I did anyway.
The 16 x 42-metre work was first shown in 2011 and is intended to stay for a little while longer as hoards of London tourists enjoy the stairwell and its many “instagrammable” views. Be sure to check it out when you’re next in the Pimlico area.
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