From the sea of grey suits swaying on the underground to the uniform glass and chrome of city-centre offices, the working world can seem a sombre place. Breaking out of the monochrome monotiny, I booked an afternoon off to visit Matisse Cut-Outs at Tate Modern – a parallel universe of striking colours and bold designs to shake me out of the muted palette of my daily routine.
Office Breaks Matisse Cut-Outs
A 12-room block-buster, Cut-Outs is a fascinating trip into the mind of Matisse who in later life was forced to swap easels and paintbrushes for scissors and paper. Random wisps of paper spring into action as manifold life-forms swoop and sway against bold backdrops of zingy greens, aqua marines and bold magentas. Merging so seamlessly together, it’s hard to believe the images aren’t hand-painted.
From pirouetting clowns to stampeding chariots, the figures are infused with a vibrant energy transmitted through deft snipping and careful positioning. In the work Acanthus, thousands of tiny pin-pricks bear testimony to the pains-taking labours involved. Working with an all-consuming passion, many of the pieces were produced within 1-2 days.
The horse, the rider and the clown, Centre pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais, Jean-Claude Planchet
From humble beginnings, the first cut-out was originally intended to hide a stain on the wall, the paper creations were soon to take on a life of their own. From portrait-sized pictures the cut-outs evolve into huge wallpaper friezes as art and life fuse together. Denied the pleasure of his garden in later years, Matisse brought the outdoors inside, suffusing his apartment with swooping birds, dancing insects and cavorting fruit in a psychedelic tapestry of the natural world.
Office Breaks Large Composition with Masks, National Gallery of Art Washington, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 17011973
The exhibition’s grand finale is the stained glass window. Originally commissioned for the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, gold stars leap out against a backdrop of midnight blue providing a simple yet stunning twist on traditional church designs. I can only imagine how striking it would look with the Mediterranean sun shining through.
Leaving the exhibition two hours later, I’m suddenly more aware of the colours all around me. With a renewed joie-de-vivre, I idly wonder if I could get hold of some coloured paper and scissors and transform the office in a similar vein? Then again, perhaps a couple of postcards from the exhibition shop might just do the trick instead.
Matisse Cut-Outs runs until 7th September 2014
Price: £18.00 for adults (£16.30 without donation)
Times: 10.00 – 6.00pm Monday – Thursday / 10.00 – 10.00pm Friday – Saturday /
Sunday 10.00 – 19.30
The exhibition will open late every night from Tuesday 2nd September.