Kids on Art

Mr H has treated me and Little Miss G to surprise tickets for Art13 on Sunday. Art13 is a new London art fair that aims to be "a global art fair for a global city". I'm a big fan of modern and contemporary art and Mr H was spot on when he thought that I might enjoy Art13.

Taking place in the airy and historical Kensington Olympia Centre, Art13 was a truly enticing visual experience, for adults and kids alike, for the initiated to the art novices. The works that inspired me the most were mainly the ones by Asian artists as they felt so new and original to me. I was mesmerised. And so was Little Miss G. If you follow me on Vine* you can see 6 seconds videos of some of our highlights.

The point of this post is not to comment on one artist or the other nor to make us sound like an arty farty family, but it is simply to share an incredible experience which is seeing art through the eyes of a child.

I have taken Little Miss G to all sort of exhibitions and fairs since she was 3 months old as childcare is expensive and I do not want to miss out on things. At first she was too little to express an opinion or to understand the vital 'no touching' rule, but at 2 and a bit years old, she is now a great companion for my art gallery visits.

Her comments are mostly right-to-the-point such as 'I like this because it's pink' or 'look, mamma, bowls for porridge', but often she comes up with real gems such as 'these men are thinking, mamma, be quiet' (referred to the sculptures above left) or 'look, a magic forest, where is Tinkerbell?' (bottom right)

I love how children as young as Miss G have their own take on art and how some artworks generate immediate reactions and draw them closer in a hypnotic-like tension. Art13 provided us with the most wonderful way to spend a Sunday and I am pretty sure that Miss G is still dreaming of the pink breathing lotus flower by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa. She saw it opening and closing at least 20 times, but she never seemed to have enough. And I will never have enough of seeing her enthralled eyes whilst looking at the flower.

*Vine is a mobile app that allows users to share 6 seconds videos with others. All pretty new to me, but very interesting. Pictures of a few more artworks from Art13 (with G's comment on them) are on my Instagram feed. I have a private account, so you need to request to see my feed first. My username on both apps is from_fun_to_mum