Exhibition: Wonderfully Wicked Witches and Old Women

I liked the sound of Wonderfully Wicked Witches and Old Women, when I saw it on Meetup. An exhibition of Goya drawings, complete with various witchy entertainments and a guy playing Spanish guitar - which I love. It was advertised by the Fill My Weekend group, and I got the last spot, goodee!

Well, I was telling Helen about it on Monday, and she found the official event link (above). I hadn't been able to - it's on at Somerset House, and their site isn't the easiest to navigate. I checked, out of curiosity, to see whether tickets were sold out there too - and was very vexed to find out that, not only were they not, but they were cheaper than in the Fill My Weekend group! Then I remembered - they were the group that went to the Top Secret Comedy Club; I went too, but independently, and got in cheaper. They were all sat over the side, with name badges.

Well, I went back to the Fill My Weekend site, and, seeing there was a waitlist, I posted the above URL there for anyone who might want to make use of it. And pointed out that tickets were cheaper there! Half an hour later, I got a message from the organiser, saying that he charged a little extra to cover his costs, and that he was very miffed that the tickets weren't sold out on the official site - he'd booked on the basis that they would be, and he'd be having words with the manager!

Oh, and when I checked the site again, my post had been removed. What a cheek! So I privately messaged as many people on the waitlist as would take messages from people they didn't know. By and large though, they seemed to prefer to go with the Fill My Weekend group and pay the extra. Well, up to them. Must be some costs he was covering, though.. at an extra charge of £1.50 per person, with 50 people going - that's £75 profit. Assuming he didn't get a discount for bulk-buying the entrance tickets.

So, off I trotted yesterday evening. I was tied up at the office, so was a bit late arriving, and missed the organiser's meet n greet at reception. Shucks, what a shame.. It's a while since I was in the area, and it's a good job I looked up where to go - I had thought Embankment was the closest station, but it's actually the one after, Temple. The District Line was as slow as ever, but that was ok - I knew the event was on till 9, and since I wasn't pushed about the meet n greet, I was relaxed. Just as well - the train was late arriving at West Kensington, had to have a little rest between there and Earl's Court, had to have another little rest at Earl's Court, and another little rest before the next stop, Gloucester Road. It seemed to find a second wind after that, and eventually chugged into Temple.

Up to the Strand and turn left, keep going till you get to Somerset House. The Courtauld Gallery, where the exhibition was being held, was well signposted, and I stopped by the reception desk to collect my ticket. I should've told her first off that I'd booked through Meetup - in that case, you don't get a ticket, you get a name badge. I was pretty miffed at my treatment from this group, so wasn't too keen on it, but I slapped it on my jumper, inside my coat, and figured it wouldn't get noticed anyway. Interestingly, as I climbed the stairs to the exhibition, I noticed that someone else had abandoned his, leaving it stuck to the banister. Guess I'm not the only one cheesed off!

It's a beautiful old building, and the event ranged over three floors: photos here. A fellow sat at the base of the main stairwell - which was a good location for him - playing the Spanish guitar so that the sound wafted through the rooms above. Which was a terrific effect. Pity he disappeared for an hour. The first thing you come to is the cafe, which was hosting gin tasting. I'm not into gin, so I continued my climb. On the floors above, scattered amongst the artworks, were some fabulously attired witches, with marvellous tall witch hats and extravagant Gothic makeup. One was hosting a talisman-making workshop, one posing for a still-life drawing group. Anyone was welcome to join in, but I don't much like drawing, or arts n crafts. One was telling horoscopes, but frankly, these horoscopes seemed a bit quirky for my taste, and I passed.

Instead, I started with the exhibition proper, which is a collection of Goya drawings from an album the art historians have named "Wicked Witches and Old Women", which comprises the theme of most of the drawings. They're fascinatingly grotesque, most engaged in disgusting or risque practices, and were never meant for public consumption. (Too bad!) Informational snippets on the walls beside the drawings explain that assembling the album was no mean feat - all the albums were broken up and the pages sold individually, and while some of the drawings have references, not all do. Even when you figure out which album they belong to, getting them in the right order is another challenge. Again, some have page numbers but not all, and sometimes the only thing they could do was to look at the back of the page, and see whether the ink from another page had marked it.

I hung around for an art history talk that described two paintings with women in them. I don't know much about art, and sometimes it's nice to have someone explain a famous painting to you. It was such an interesting talk that I hung around for her next one, too. The event didn't finish until 9, but I left after this second talk. The group was planning to go to the pub after, but I had no interest in meeting them. I'd seen some people with the name badges as I roamed the galleries, but a group this large isn't conducive to meeting people. I spotted the organsier at one point, prowling the stairs - I avoided him, naturally. I don't think I could have been civil.

It was a good event - and will be repeated in May - but I doubt I'll be going to any more events as part of this group. I'll check out what they're doing - they have interesting ideas - but I bet, whatever it is, I can get it cheaper myself. And neither last night, nor the other time I was in the same room as them, did I see any mingling going on. Not a group to meet people, then! Granted, of course, I didn't go to the pub after - but I might have expected some interaction before that!

Back to Ireland today, and a double bill at the Southwark Playhouse on Monday and Tuesday - on Monday, The Cutting of the Cloth (1/3 off the ticket price with Hot Ticket Offers - i.e., just enter HOT at checkout), and on Tuesday, These Trees Are Made of Blood, about the Dirty War in Argentina.