Anthea Hamilton’s ‘The Squash’

 

Still from ‘The Squash’

Still from ‘The Squash’

Tate Britain, Until 7 October 2018

Over the years artists have transformed the Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries in remarkable ways. In 2017 Cerith Wyn Evans suspended almost 2km of neon lighting from the ceiling, and in 2016 Pablo Bronstein responded to the space through trompe de l’oeil design and historical dance. This year Anthea Hamilton’s immersive installation The Squash lives up to expectations of an ambitious and exciting display.

Okay, so this is a rare instance of me breaking my own rules and writing about an exhibition outside the region. But on a trip to London earlier on this summer, I was lucky enough to experience this surreal and captivating work. A perfect combination of performance, sculpture, installation and costume design, Hamilton’s piece is definitely something that deserves a good juicy (pun intended) review….

Walking into the Duveen Galleries is like stepping into an uncanny museum. A clean expanse of domestic white tiles runs the length of the floor and covers a series of unconventionally shaped plinths, creating a scene akin to a giant game of Tetris. The juxtaposition of everyday modern minimalism with the building’s neo-classical architecture is daring and amusing, and acts as a catalyst for a physical experience and response.

We encounter sculptures from the Tate’s collection displayed in a somewhat subversive manner; at times too high, too low, and even back to front. Hamilton has not provided a conventional viewing experience, because she has not chosen these works for their visual qualities. They have been selected because they are considered to be the most satisfying sculptures to touch and, as such, are displayed in ways that highlight their most tactile features.

Indeed, much of Hamilton’s work is about provoking a bodily response through interaction, unexpected materials, scale and humour. Perhaps the work she is best known for is Project for a Door (After Gaetano Pesce), exhibited at the Tate Britain when Hamilton was nominated for the 2016 Turner Prize. The piece, which is inspired by a photograph of a model for a doorway by Gaetano Pesce, is a larger-than-life bare buttocks being grabbed by a pair of hands. Naturally, the explicit attention paid to what is normally private and hidden combined with its huge scale, made Project for a Door the most tweeted and talked about work of the Turner Prize that year.

However there is much more to it than simply humour and obscenity. The piece is part of a larger body of work exploring the ways we read and physically respond to images. The Squash is inspired by a photograph Hamilton found in a book several years ago, showing a person dressed as a squash-like vegetable laying amongst vines. The original photograph was from 1960 and depicted a scene from a dance by American choreographer Erick Hawkins. However Hamilton has lost the source of the image, along with most of its context.

The squash represents Hamilton’s reimagining of the scene, but the result is not an isolated viewpoint. Rather, the interpretation of the image changes by the day, as a different performer (out of a possible fourteen) chooses a costume designed by Hamilton based on a squash or pumpkin, and explores their own interpretation of the image within the space. As such, the end of the gallery is set up as a stage of sorts, framing in white tiles a figure dressed in one of Hamilton’s fantastical costumes. Creeping, crawling and dancing across the stage and gallery in slow, haunting movements, the performer is like a surreal sculpture come to life.

Overall The Squash is an impressive artwork which enables viewers to become absorbed in the world which Hamilton, along with curators Lindsay Long and Sofia Karamani, have so masterfully constructed. It is the perfect exhibition for the gallery goer who wants an experience, as well as an artwork, which perfectly balances playfulness and sophistication.

Sawdust and Sequins: The Art of the Circus

Sir Peter Blake, Circus Collage Triptych (right), Image Source: http://www.theartstack.com

RWA, Bristol, Until 3 June 2018

Since 1768 the British public has been reveling in the glamorous spectacle of the circus, with its vibrant atmosphere, diversity of activity and astonishing performers. Now, as the 250^th anniversary of the circus approaches, venues across the UK will be celebrating this British-born art-form.

As one of the country’s six circus cities and a location defined by its multitude of performers and venues, it is no surprise that Bristol is responding with some fantastic events. The Royal West of England Academy’s (RWA) exhibition Sawdust and Sequins celebrates the occasion by bringing together historical and contemporary artworks inspired by the circus.

The main gallery offers a variety of perspectives from contemporary artists. At times the work draws on the thrill and spectacle of performance, as in Peter Blake’s Circus Collage Triptych; with its layered imagery humorously presenting an eclectic assortment of performers and spectators. On the other hand, Stephen Jacobson’s The Next Turn is a hushed, suspenseful piece, infused with a never ending sense of tension as we wait for the next act to enter the arena.

So much of the work in the exhibition sheds new light on this time-honored form of entertainment, but for me it is Beth Carter who steals the show, with a selection of works delving into some more challenging and complex issues associated with the circus. Her surreal charcoal drawings are the stuff of nightmares, and they speak plainly of anxiety and ambiguity. Death at the Circus is particularly poignant, with a palpable reference to the darker side of animals’ involvement in the circus.

Indeed what makes the show significant, other than its variety, is the deeply considered selection of artworks on display. These are not simply artists who have rendered shallow interpretations of the circus. Throughout the exhibition we are presented with sincere responses to the people, work and concerns of the business, by artists who have experienced them first hand.

Along with the contemporary work, one of the side galleries takes us back to the 1900s, when the circus was one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Artists were drawn to the glamour and dynamism of the spectacle, as well as the everyday travelling life experienced by performers. As such we are presented with a world of visual contradictions.

On the one hand Laura Knight’s The Grand Parade, Charivari (1920) celebrates the colour, movement and chaotic delight of the circus, in one large scene incorporating almost the entire cast of the Bertram Mills Circus. In contrast, Frederick William Elwell has used dingy greens and browns to represent a dark tent where exhausted performers take refuge, in his exquisite, quiet painting Corner of the Horse Tent (c.1923). Treasures by David Bomberg, Walter Sickert and George Tute (amongst other significant 20^th Century British artists) are also to be enjoyed in this part of the exhibition.

In the other side galleries we are treated to an exhibition of photography by Peter Lavery, whose work over the past fifty years has focused on the circus. Since the 1970s his striking portraits have captured performers rehearsing, preparing and relaxing; revealing extraordinary moments of humor, strength and vulnerability.

Lavery’s photographs are truly a joy to behold, and contribute a valuable and exclusive viewpoint to an exhibition which beautifully pays homage to the circus as an art form. Sequins and Sawdust succeeds in embracing the glamour and excitement of performance, as well as more poignant, inquisitive and emotional responses.

Sawdust and Sequins: The Art of the Circus is on show until 3 June 2018.

RWA, Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1PX

 

Tribe

The Fox Talbot Museum, Until 20 May 2018

K.K. DePaul, ‘Only Child’, Mixed Media (Source: http://www.kkdepaul.com)

Eight American photographers embrace a romantic notion of story-telling in the Fox Talbot Museum’s intriguing exhibition Tribe, which finishes this Sunday.

Drawing on their memories and experiences as women, Kirsten Hoving, Heather Evans Smith, Lori Vrba, Emma Powell, Anne Berry, K.K. DePaul, Heidi Kirkpatrick and Tama Hochbaum present work which is in their own words ‘feminine without apology’. Revealing raw and honest narratives of womanhood, parenthood, memory, nostalgia, love and loss, the works come together in an emotive and sincere exhibition.

Amongst some of the poignant works shown are Tama Hochbaum’s surreal Silver Screen Series, which honours her mother’s legacy through stills from movies she loved, and K.K. DePaul’s collages, which beautifully convey the shifting nature of memory through layered imagery and media. Also powerful are Heidi Kirkpatrick’s intimate photographic objects, which explore the female figure, family narratives and contemporary issues of being a woman.

Curator Lori Vrba has bought the exhibition together nicely, giving each artist her own space to say what she needs to, whilst the themes of personal narrative and romantic storytelling run like threads throughout the show.

I have to admit that it has taken me a while to get my head around the the ethos of feminine aesthetics suggested in Tribe’s opening text, possibly because much of the work on show perpetuates a traditional notion of womanhood being interwoven with nature and motherhood. Femininity and the female experience varies from woman to woman and, after much debate, I find that I respect this collective’s commitment to their experiences and aesthetics, even if they do not necessarily reflect mine.

It is of course significant that, in an art world where the scales still tip dramatically in the favour of men, we are presented with an all-woman show which embraces undiluted experiences of womanhood.

The work comes together in a brave and compelling exhibition which not only celebrates the individuality of experience, but which succeeds in offering insight into the innovative ways photography is being used today. From Heather Evans Smiths’ crisp, enigmatic snippets of life from her Seen not Heard portfolio, to Lori Vrba’s silver gelatine prints infused with earthly fairytale-like wonder, each talented artist puts forth her own unique aesthetic and demonstrates mastery over her technique.

Overall, I’d say that if you’re looking for a good quality photography exhibition with a bit of a difference, Tribe is well worth a visit. There are only five days left, but if the pleasant weather encourages a visit to beautiful Lacock this weekend, be sure to pop in to the Fox Talbot Museum and take a look for yourself before it finishes!

For more information visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock-abbey-fox-talbot-museum-and-village

From the Ground: Mandy Bonnell & James Brooks

Drawing Projects UK, 5 May – 30 June 2018

James Brooks, Civic Squares of Paris Drawings (Source: http://drawingprojects.uk)

It’s safe to say that over the past eight months or so my blog has been thoroughly neglected. I make no excuses; the inspiration is everywhere, and I’ve missed several opportunities to write about some seriously great art!

It was a recent visit to the wonderful Drawing Projects UK (DP UK), combined with a relaxed and sunny bank-holiday weekend, which finally motivated me to sit down and get stuck into writing again…

If you’re unfamiliar with DP UK, I would thoroughly recommend seeking it out. Formed by Professor Anita Taylor and located heart of Trowbridge, it is an organisation committed to the promotion, production and development of contemporary art practice rooted in drawing and line.

In its current exhibition From the Ground, DP UK brings together exquisite work by Mandy Bonnell and James Brooks, in a gallery which is modest in size yet flooded with stunning natural light. Domestic yet refined, the space is perfect for an exhibition as cool, clean and dignified as this one.

Bonnell and Brooks show work inspired by the historical and geographical significance of specific places. In her artist book Eloise Butler’s Wildflower Garden Bonnell responds to the first and oldest public wildflower garden in the United States (est. 1907), and references a tradition of gathering, collecting and recording largely undertaken by women in the 18^th and 19^th Centuries. The resulting collection of drawings treads the line between instinctive artistic expression the scientific accuracy of botanical drawings.

James Brooks’ works are minimalist upon approach, with simple geometric shapes and harmonious colours drawing us in. Yet delicate lines and tiny numbers reveal the complex nature of the work, which is layered with references to the geographical and geometrical character and historical significance of civic cities and towns throughout Europe.

Bonnell and Brooks are the perfect partnering for this exhibition, which is minimalist in appearance yet loaded with meaning. Through an exquisite use of line, they say a lot with a little; drawing us in with their clean, delicate mark-making, and quietly demanding that we take the time to reflect and respond.

From the Ground: Mandy Bonnell and James Brooks is on show until 30 June 2018, and is open for viewing on Saturdays, 1-4pm, and by appointment.

Drawing Projects UK is located in Bridge House, 10 Stellard Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 9AE. Website: http://drawingprojects.uk/

Review: ‘Tapestry Here & Now’ at the Holburne Museum, Bath

 ‘Ozymandias’ by Barbara Heller (Source: http://www.holburne.org)

Last Year, Grayson Perry’s commentary on social hierarchies took the form of a powerful series of tapestries entitled The Vanity of Small Differences. By using a traditional medium often associated with the grandeur of palaces and castles, Perry took his satirical view of class and status to a new level. The Victoria Art Gallery in Bath was full to the brim with visitors eager to see these fabulous tapestries. So now it is refreshing to see the Holburne Museum bringing us a bigger picture of the important role this medium plays in contemporary art.

Here and Now beautifully demonstrates the diversity and relevance of tapestry today, through the work of 21 artists from across the globe. Split into three categories – landscape, memory and politics – the works on display demonstrate why tapestry as an art form is now more significant than ever. The time-consuming nature of the medium and its associations with story-telling makes it perfect for reflection in this fast-paced, ever-changing and uncertain world.

Indeed, the strength of these works lies not only in the extraordinary amount of skill that has gone into them, but also in their ability to make us reflect. In the first of two galleries, Kristin Sæterdal’s New Territory was first in line for my attention.  The large, illustrative tapestry has us looking through the window of some kind of space-craft toward a mysterious landscape, considering questions about technology’s place in relation to the environment. Fiona Hutchison’s Tide presents a more subtle, abstract take on landscape but with an equally prominent message. By manipulating tapestry to reflect the movements of the constantly changing sea, Hutchinson creates a metaphor for our political, cultural and ecological future.

Other pieces derive more directly from the artists’ personal experiences and memories, but reflect on a collective conscious or wider cultural experience. Ai Ito’s intricately detailed Baltic Travel Diary looks at time and travel by telling the story of her journey through the Baltic. Opposite this, Misao Watanabe’s stunning Red Scenery reflects on contradictions between public facade and private thoughts; never more relevant than today, where everyone is afforded the opportunity for a public persona on the internet.

This gallery succeeds in showing the multiplicity of techniques and themes being explored in contemporary tapestry, demonstrating its importance as a progressive art form and a relevant means of communication.

In the second gallery dedicated to Here and Now the overreaching theme is politics. Body, global, social and environmental politics are considered in this small, dramatic display of tapestries. A stunning bird of green and turquoise hurtles toward a ground littered with bird bones and an unsettling form of a rag doll in Barbara Heller’s powerful condemnation of landmines, Ozymandias. Overall the room has a more ominous tone, though it is still just as captivating.

The exhibition as a whole shows how artists working with tapestry are pushing the boundaries of the medium to create meaningful, provocative works of art. More impressive still, the experience of the show for the visitor is informative and enriching. Splitting the exhibition into three categories helps guide us through the spaces without creating a rigid scheme. They give us a point of focus, but it becomes clear that landscape, memory and politics overlap time and time again in the important messages put forth in the tapestries.

‘Here and Now’ was curated by Professor Lesley Millar in partnership with the National Centre for Craft & Design.

It is on display at the Holburne Museum, Bath, until 1 October 2017

Review: ‘Gillian Ayres’ at the National Museum Cardiff

 ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ by Gillian Ayres (Source: tate.org.uk)

If the ever unreliable British weather is failing to inspire you, Gillian Ayres’ abstract paintings are exactly what’s needed to kick some colour and energy back into summer. The National Museum Cardiff is the place to find them, in a major exhibition dedicated to the work of this internationally renowned abstract artist.

Five gallery spaces present Ayres’ work from the 1950s – 1980s, beautifully demonstrating the development of her use of colour, texture and space; from early abstract expressionist paintings to the bright, intensely layered work created after she moved to the Llyn Peninsula in Wales.

In fact, her relationship with North Wales is a thread running through the exhibition, which takes us on a backward journey, beginning with those stunning pieces created throughout the 1980s. In these we can see a confident eye for colour and extraordinary freedom of expression in the thick brush strokes and finger marks that drag the paint across the vast canvases. Noise and energy almost seem to escape from these intensity powerful pieces. Thus the reverse chronological order of the exhibition serves not only to set the scene in Wales, but to create a truly awe-inspiring entrance into the exhibition.

We are also treated to a series of works on paper by Ayres which serve to demonstrate her creative process, but which are also charming works in their own right. Photographs of the artist on a beach along the Llyn Peninsula and in her studio in Llaniestyn give us a glimpse of the artist behind the paintings, enjoying her life in North Wales. These features give the exhibition a bit of warmth, preventing it from becoming a shallow survey of paintings.

Following this we go back to the 60s and 70s; a time of diversity and experimentation for Ayres. Some of the paintings are far removed from the explosive abstracts we are introduced to at the beginning of the show, such as the dark semi-abstract Shiraz, 1964. Others she her thinking about colour and mark making which she would develop later on. Particularly striking is the vast Untitled (Purples), 1971, which makes use of pointillism to create an effect of florescent cells under a microscope.

The exhibition ends at the beginning of Ayres’ career in the 1950s, when she was engaging strongly with abstract expressionism, placing herself in line with ground breaking artists in Paris and New York. Though her use of colour has not quite developed and there is no evidence of the sumptuous texture that characterises her work from the ‘80s onward, these early canvases are raw and emotional.  Blue, red, yellow, turquoise and purple are thrown together in a raging sea of gestures in the breathtaking mural on loan from South Hampstead High School. It is worth seeing the show just for this powerful, moving painting. During this time Ayres was already taking regular trips to North Wales, where visits to the mountains made her ‘see the world like a painting’.

There is no doubt that the exhibition leaves us feeling like we know Ayres’ work better through seeing her process of development and the relationship she has with North Wales. Though a little more information about her place in British abstraction may be desired, one has to admire the informative but not overbearing text panels that accompany the exhibition. Instead of loading us with information the curator has embraced the opportunity for a fun family trail. Embedded within the exhibition, the activities encourage children to look at the shapes and colours of the art. Ayres work is, after all, a rich and fulfilling viewing experience to be enjoyed by everyone.

Unfortunatley I’m bringing you this review a little late, and you need to visit before the exhibition ends next week!

Gillian Ayres is showing at the National Museum Cardiff until Sunday 3 September 2017

Review: ‘Paint Me This Way!’ by Susan Carr at Swindon Museum & Art Gallery

 Bohemian Rhapsody by Susan Carr

A woman dressed in black is in the spot light. Her arms are crossed over her torso, hands resting on her shoulders revealing distinctive silver rings on spread fingers. She looks up, stretching her striking, long neck. She is strong and unfazed. We gaze upward mesmerised, wondering about the sitter in this spectacular portrait.

Her name is Rose, and she has been living with motor neuron disease for twenty years. The neurological disorder primarily affected her speech, swallowing and ability to make facial expressions. However the portraits in this exhibition speak about much more than illness; they are about the celebration and rediscovery of identity in the face of great challenges.

Rose’s portrait is aptly named Bohemian Rhapsody, and was of course inspired by the famous album cover in which Freddie Mercury emerges from a sea of darkness with his arms crossed over his chest. The rings she wears are copies of those belonging to the late Queen star, whose house Rose used to visit on a pilgrimage every year. By choosing to mirror such a portrait the sitter not only pays homage to someone she respects, but portrays herself as someone who is strong despite her illness, which she defies in the simple act of making her throat central to the portrait.

Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the many powerful portraits in what is possibly the most affecting exhibition I have ever seen. ‘Paint Me This Way!’ is the result of artist and art therapist Dr Susan Carr’s work with seven people living with life limiting or chronic illnesses. It comprises of 29 painted portraits, 6 sculptures and 80 collages of varying sizes and styles, spread between the two lower front galleries of the characterful Georgian building that houses Swindon’s museum.

The artworks were created in a form of intervention called “portrait therapy”, developed by Dr Carr to help people resolve disrupted identities caused by diagnosis, treatment or illness. The process allows them to tell their stories and decide how they want to be represented. Thus each piece results from a close collaboration between artist and sitter, and represents an important journey of rediscovery and celebration of self-identity.

Portraits of each patient she worked with are shown in the exhibition at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, along with the numerous poems, collages and sculptures they created along the way, and a moving video where they each discuss their experiences with portrait therapy.

What is clear by viewing the artworks and watching the video, is not only Dr Carr’s skill as an artist, but most importantly her empathy for the sitters and the close relationship she has with them. She breaks down the usual roles of “artist” and “sitter” in order to properly understand each individual’s interpretations of themselves. She listens to what they have to say, encourages them, earns their trust and gives them the room to rediscover themselves before producing her beautiful, empathetic portraits.

In the video Rose discusses her experience:

“…it made me realise that although I was ill, I could still explore different things. I didn’t think there was so much about me… What to me was just an everyday thing, you’ve made it into something.”

It is such deep, personal inclusions like this than make ‘Paint Me This Way!’ such a poignant and unforgettable exhibition. You will not leave without feeling moved.

‘Paint Me This Way!’ is showing at Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, until Saturday 9 September 2017

Join Dr Susan Carr at Swindon Museum & Art Gallery on Sept 1st at 12:30pm for an informal tour of the exhibition

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