Serpentine Gallery (London)

'Give & Take' is an exhibition on currently (between Jan 30th + Apr 1st 2001) at the Serpentine Gallery, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, which marks the link between the two. We didn't get to the V&A, unfortunately, but it is showing work by the international contemporary artists: Ken Aptekar Xu Bing Neil Cummings & Marysia Lewandowska Wim Delvoye Jeff Koons - American artist famed for his use of tacky pop images and photos of him with his porn star wife Liza Lou Roxy Paine J. Morgan Puett & Suzanne Bocanegra Marc Quinn Andres Serrano - did 'Piss Christ' in late 80's which caused huge controversy in the US ...

The Serpentine is a small art gallery in the middle of Hyde Park, near to the Kensington Gardens end. If you consult the park maps its fairly easy to find. It's hard to say which is the nearest tube as you have to walk through the park. I would probably pick Queensway but you will still have about a 15-20 min stroll through the park to get there. The 52 bus may go closer (Kensington Gore side). This gallery is great, even though it may be small, it's very light and modern and I've seen a lot of very interesting stuff there. They change the material regularly so you need to consult "Hot Tickets" or "Time Out" magazines to check ...

Honestly, if you're not really into art as a rule I can still recommend the Serpentine Gallery as a quality little number. And what, precisely, would my reasoning be? Easy, it's very small, you can go round in about half an hour and still have a good look at all the exhibits on display. I've seen a couple of artists there, and I've never been disappointed by the quality of the setting and arrangements of the displays. The actual works of art were all right an' all. Here's the best bit: it's totally free and situated right inside Kensington Gardens, so why not make a day of it by having a picnic in the park with a bit ...