Nigel Ip

Capturing the Moment at Tate Modern seeks to examine the connections between painting and photography in contemporary art. The exhibition is predominantly a collaborative gathering of works from the collections of the Taiwan-based YAGEO Foundation and Tate themselves. The latter has also used this opportunity to showcase many new acquisitions, such as John Currin’s rather famous Thanksgiving.

The exhibition doesn’t really have much of a narrative. Rather, its overarching point seems to be how photography captures a specific, real moment in time, while painting is capable of creating the illusion of instantaneousness while merging ‘moments’ from the past, present, and imaginary. Jeff Wall’s A Sudden Gust of Wind (after Hokusai) is a fine example of the opposite at play, in which he meticulously planned and merged hundreds of separate images into a composite reimagining of Hokusai’s Yejiri Station, Province of Suruga woodblock print. Gerhard Richter is also a classic example, whose photo-realistic paintings frequently make visitors do a double-take. As a result, this exhibition forces us to reckon with the technical and philosophical qualities of painting and photography.

One of the more whimsical elements of the exhibition’s design is the reproduction of quotations to accompany specific works. The sudden diagonal incline of Wilhelm Sasnal’s quote takes on almost a quality found in visual poetry. However, while some quotes are revealing of the artist’s perceptions, others don’t serve much purpose.

The ultimate highlight is the opportunity to view David Hockney’s Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), quite possibly the artist’s most iconic painting. It was acquired by the YAGEO Foundation in November 2018 for $90.3 million, becoming one of the most expensive works of art by a living artist ever sold at auction. The painting was initially inspired by a composite of two photographs, which Hockney realised in a first version but destroyed. This second version is the result of extra photographs recreating the same initial poses by his former lover Peter Schlesinger in Kensington Gardens. This is also one of the first works in which his recognisable swimming pool motif features, complete with his creative solution to depicting clear, textureless water.

This is an exhibition that doesn’t make you think too hard, and that’s refreshing, given the topic’s capacity for more complex philosophical links. I see it as a splendid opportunity to see some faraway loans, and that makes it very much worth visiting.

Capturing the Moment runs from 13 June 2023 to 28 April 2024 at Tate Modern, London, https://www.tate.org.uk/