A repulsive gewgaw (not)

ALSO at the Hayward, as the natural accompaniment to Bridget Riley, is The Art of Ancient Mexico (above: Atlantean Figure, Toltec, AD 850-1250, designed to support a ledge). It provokes nostalgia for a time of lost innocence. A time, I mean, when a European could look at the sculpture of the Aztecs and the Mayas and say with both a good conscience and, more important, real conviction: 'Ugh, the repulsive gewgaws of barbarism]' But that time is long gone. What was once considered primitive art has now been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream of our culture. We like it. I mean I like it too. But I'm just saying . . . TL

Hayward, SE1 (071-928 8800), to 6 Dec.

(Photograph omitted)