'During the great depression, the idea of the American dream motivated a nation struggling with mass unemployment, urbanisation and industrialisation. The arrival of the 'talkies' from Hollywood provided relief from the harsh economic realities, while novels such as John Steinbecks
The Grapes of Wrath brought into sharp focus the reality of life in rural America.'
On Saturday Matt and I attended the RA Late evening for the '
America after the fall' exhibition. The Royal Academy hold these great 'Lates' where they open from 7-11pm and dedicate the whole night in celebration of a new focal exhibition.
We were greeted by the characters from the painting American Gothic standing at the entrance, before taking our complimentary cocktail of bourbon and ginger and heading inside to see the academy which was decorated as you can imagine in an all American way.
As part of the evening they also had an
Art Macabre life drawing class which you could take part in. The last time I did any life drawing I was about 19 years old and it was Matt's very first time. It was fun to work in a fast paced and expressive nature once again. We watched some swing bands but unfortunately my feet were too mangled from my shoes to partake in any dancing (sob) we dressed up in vintage clothes - playing with all the hats and fancy jackets that were available to try and buy, listened to an interesting talk that different lecturers did throughout the night and interacted with characters in 'Hollywood-land', as well as seeing a preview of the exhibition itself.
It was a really fun evening and I loved seeing everyone's costumes and their take on the theme. I would definitely be interested in going to another event. The upcoming ones look like they're going to be corkers in the form of the
The Electric Forest and The Other Paradise.
