Cedric started Something in the Attic in 2012 as an ongoing series of exhibitions combining visual art with music. He's currently working as an independent art consultant and developing a platform to provide curated coverage of news and events in the UK's institutional art world: Museum News will launch in January 2016. In his spare time he collects vinyl records and runs a bi-monthly party named Soul Time at Brilliant Corners in Dalston.
Your secret art venue when you seek peace and quiet
I would have said the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park, London but I’ve shared it with too many peopole, there are memories attached. My new retreat is Leighton House, studio-home of Frederic (Lord) Leighton. From the outside you wouldn’t imagine what’s inside, Leighton was fascinated by the East and asked friends who travelled there to bring back local artifacts including tiles which make up the house’s Arab Hall. The garden is beautiful, as is the permanent collection; they also host a range of contemporary exhibitions upstairs.
The best food experience in an art space
I ventured to Naoshima Island in Japan earlier this year, unexpectedly I made new friends whilst musing over Bruce Nauman’s neon installation ‘100 Live and Die’ at the Benesse House Museum. They invited me to join them for dinner that evening at the museum restaurant Issen, the food was exceptional: fresh and typical of Inland Sea. The sunset view was one of the most spectacular I’ve seen, onlooking the island and a series of Sugimoto works installed outdoors.
A museum gift shop that you never leave empty handed
I’m constantly surprised by the quality of museum gift shops in London. Saying that, I rarely leave Tate Modern empty handed, they stock brilliant magazines that are difficult to find elsewhere such as a Kennedy and The Plantation Journal.
Your museum with a wow-factor
Guggenheim Bilbao, the sublime architecture of the museum looks equally spectactular during the day and in the evening. I was also impressed with the permanent collection and use of space, which includes the colossal Richard Serra sculptural installation The Matter Of Time.
Please share with us a special personal memory related to a museum experience
Settling in Naoshima. I woke up at dawn in Osaka and travelled to the island via several Shinkansen trains and a ferry. I was on a tight schedule and hadn’t done much research apart from look up the Benesse Art Site, once settled I realized how much the island has to offer in addition to the museums and sculpture park: it has an incredible running path, convenient cycle hire, an art themed onsen, traditional tea houses and ice cream stalls. The locals are hospitable and their businesses feel unaffected by consumerism.
