Feeding the soul

In a vain attempt to make Friday go slightly faster than it had been, I decided that instead of my typical lunch (usually a vague wander around the centre of Manchester maintaining caffeine and nicotine levels) I should possibly do something more cerebral with my lunchtime.

Having walked past it almost everyday for the last 3 months (and noting that it was free) I decided that it would be worth spending my lunch walking around the Manchester Art Gallery.

I am somewhat conservative when it comes to my taste in art: trees and countryside - pretty, video of naked man chopping wood - "Um!", boats on choppy water - spectacular, ruffled soiled bedsheets - again "how is this art?", portraits of handsome men or beautiful women - impressive, black canvas with highlights of varying degrees of black "Yep, still don't get it!" I am in no way trying to knock modern art. Having lived with an Art Student whilst at university I know the amount of time and effort that goes into creating a piece of art, but I seriously just don't understand it. Sometimes you can see what the artist is trying to impress and I can see how they have gone about it, but some of the more modern art just seems to me to be simply an attempt to shock.

That having been said I spent about 2 hours (yeah I know that technically it is a lunch-HOUR, but the weather is good here at the moment, and the boss had already gone out to lunch when I headed out so no way of telling how long I had been so no-one really minded!) walking through the halls of the gallery, surrounding myself in some fantastic pieces of art. I have to say that I really enjoyed some of the more modern art such as Max Ernst's - La Ville Petrifiee, or Lowry and Valette's views of Manchester (although they are somewhat less than modern now)

At the same time you can wander through halls filled with classical masters such as Jan Van Goyen and Rosetti, and surround yourself in artwork from as early as the late 14th Century.

I think the most striking artists in the exhibitions were Ford Maddow Brown and William Holman Hunt.

Ford Maddox Brown's piece simply entitled 'Work' is a complex view of the values of work, centring on a group of Navies toiling for their daily bread, whilst around them those who either do not need, or choose not to work (for a variety of reasons) continue past them.

William Holman Hunt's piece entitled 'Shadow of Death' is a biblical piece that draws on a fictitious impression of a single day of Jesus' life, although provides representations of his birth and ultimately his death.

Whilst I may well be asleep now before 4pm (as a result of lack of caffeine) or climbing the walls (as a result of lack of nicotine) I think it was really worth while and would recommend it to anyone who has a couple of hours to spare in the heart of Manchester.