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Thursday 24 May 2012

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May 2009 | by: Andrew Lambirth | Comments (0)

A place to linger

Isa Genzken: Open, Sesame!
Whitechapel Gallery, until 21 June

Passports: Great Early Buys from the British Council Collection
Whitechapel Gallery, until 14 June

Back in the 1980s when I lived in the East End and the Whitechapel was my local art gallery, I used to frequent the public library then situated next door. It had rather a good art section and I remember borrowing books on all manner of subjects from Marcellus Laroon to David Bomberg. I thought I might lament its passing, but the extension of the Whitechapel Gallery into its space has been so sensitively managed that I have only praise for the result. There’s an interesting small exhibition of the so-called ‘Whitechapel Boys’ (until 20 September), those radical Jewish artists such as Bomberg, Epstein and Gertler, shown with three flat cabinets of fascinating archive material. (I particularly liked the drawings on old journals by Bernard Meninsky.) Next door is an elegant reading room. The layout is spacious and uncrowded and a pleasure to visit. The Whitechapel Gallery has become a place to linger.

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