Early this year I went to see the Queer Art Exhibition at the Tate Britain and one of the pieces they had there was Francis Bacon’s “Seated Figure”. I was aware of this piece already before attending the exhibition, however seeing it in real life was quite an experience. When I saw it I found it deeply unsettling and it is not too often that seeing an art piece makes me feel something. I won’t go into too much detail but it brings up some not so happy memories. It also remind me of some nightmares I had as a kid where there would be a mysterious silhouette of a man sitting in a chair in a shadowy room. Another interesting point to pick out is the colours of this painting are colours I gravitate to in my own work.

I think there is a huge value in seeing work in the flesh because a photo of a painting for example could miss some very important details which are essential to the piece. When I googled “Seated Figure” for this task, there was colour and quality variations which ruin the overall feel of the original piece. A photo can only capture so much!