Twombly - LONDON KICKS - Fashion, Music, Art, Film, London and Going Out

PUCKER UP FOR CY TWOMBLY

Every year a handful of unsuspecting tourists in Florence fall prey to 'The Stendhal Syndrome' – an affliction that causes swooning fits and panic attacks when faced with the overwhelming power of great artistic masterpieces. But in Avignon in 2007 French artist Rindy Sam did one better than these itinerant art victims, feeling so overcome by a white Cy Twombly canvas that she placed a smeary kiss on its otherwise unblemished surface. This kind of behaviour is not strictly advisable at the Tate Modern's current Twombly retrospective, running until 14th September, but confronted with these beautifully messy, awe inspiring works, you might start to have find the tiniest glimmer of sympathy amidst your contempt for poor Madame Sam. Twombly's abstract paintings, urgently sloppy canvases bedecked in letters, scribbles and splashes of paint, are certainly esoteric, but there's a real sense of passion and instantaneous appeal here that goes beyond all the gallery's notes on cryptography, Mallarmé and the multitude of references and methods that inform the works. Go, and be transported - you may not quite feel like kissing anything but you'll definitely want to pick up a few postcards…

Adam Welch

London Kicks 2008