First day of the 2024 edition of The John Hall Venice Course

Starting in gorgeous winter sunshine at our superb lecture centre in the Nash Rooms at The ICA, we eased gently into the start of #JHV2024 with an introduction from Charlie, followed by two fabulous presentations, from Ben Street and then Prof. David Ekserdjian. Ben invited the group to question the contextualisation of art; how do the environments that art is placed in help with our perception; do we simply do as we are told, and look adoringly at art as the way that it's exhibited generates a sort of worshipful distance? David took us through the actual techniques of looking at art; the condition of artworks, the materials, the upgrades and restoration, and the tools that we can take to do our looking.