Baffled in Bilbao

The cruise leaves from Bilbao, Doug, my endlessly patient consultant at Trailfinders Edinburgh, told me. Hastily I flicked through the random information with which my mind is full and came up with one word: Guggenheim. The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum. Conveniently, Doug booked me into the Melia Bilbao, a short walk away, for two nights. There was no escape. I’d have to visit.

Modern art is pretty much a closed book to me. It makes me feel inadequate; I’m not sure what it’s saying or how I’m supposed to feel or react. And so it was. Confronted with huge metal installations, I dutifully walked through and around them, wondering why they weren’t speaking to me. In another gallery lights played. They were pretty and mesmerising but I left unchanged and… err…unenlightened.

Upstairs were canvases filled with blocks of colour. The thought of the uneducated the world over leapt into my mind: I could do that. And the thing is, given enough time I probably could paint a red square, a blue triangle or a yellow circle. So what makes these worthy of display in a world-renowned gallery? I still don’t know.

But finally – finally – I found something I could relate to, enjoy and understand. Ruth Asawa’s looped wire sculptures inspired, amongst other things, by plans were a joy to me. I spent more time looking at them than I did in the rest of the museum put together. If I were near another exhibition of her work, I’d make a beeline for it.

By no means am I now devotee of modern art but I enjoyed my visit to the Guggenheim. I probably enjoyed the walk there more, though, Ruth Asawa’s art notwithstanding.