This was sent to me by J & C Harding. They are long standing occupants of the art world and have agreed for their comments on Rose Nolan’s new work at Central Station to be published here on the blog.
In line with the humour embedded in their writing below, it seems only fair to provide a platform for their considerations.....
The new Central Railway concourse has been opened and it’s not bad at all - but it does have the obligatory inclusion of public art - here it is -
For legibility reasons the text on the floor is reproduced on the image.
Is it just me or is this art as mental-health-therapy kitsch of a very high order - (low order actually, since it's on the floor) - part Hallmark greeting card gush, part Victorian embroidered sampler homily, part wellness industry mission statement - why not include 'do unto others as you would be done unto' and ‘brush your hair and don't forget a clean hanky' and 'have you got your ticket?' - even Rose Nolan doesn’t seem to have much confidence in the stuff - she admits that even with practice your ‘inner balance’ might only develop to a 'lesser degree' - so mind the gap...
At the new Central we’re promised another of Rose Nolan’s works later in the year - perhaps she’ll do a riff on a couple of the old classics - the sort of thing you see in coffee shops where Rose may have spent too much time - "This train is the first train of the rest of your life” or “Your train on platform 2 is what happens while you’re making other plans” - but frankly I’d rather have another bronze Queen Victoria…
Maybe the Victorian Tapestry Workshop could do a very, very big version of this - or have I gone off the rails?