Visual Art
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SPENCER SWEENEY
- MILLION DOLLAR PAINTINGS
The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Sun 1 May 0...
Technique and subject matter fight it out in Spencer Sweeney's paintings at the Modern Institute. This in itself is not a new battle, but when it is embodied in the agitating Technicolor tension between American abstraction and the move beyond its ironic employment, the maniacal products of the dialectic are. ‘Le Flameur' (all paintings are acrylic on canvas, 2005) soars, cannibalising and transcending 7 the canvases that flank it - the motifs of ‘Steve’ (pictured) and ‘The Painting’ are repeated and abstracted, creating a cache of d fragmented signs for Sweeney to plunder.
The paintings suffer from an identity crisis (this is their success), they record contradictions. antagonism between drawing and 0 painting, for example, pop representation and pop abstraction. There is no easy resolution; any attempt to unify the works leads to another giddying duality and another grimacing artwork: a phallic- nosed griffin figure haunts many of the canvases (‘Tuesday Night Soirée’, for example) and pops into 30 relief in ‘Untitled’ (vinyl baHoons)
The tradition of painting the detritus of the studio is splattered with neon; photos and phone numbers are attached to the canvases, and sketchbook marginalia manages to sneak in. This ‘hand-painted pop’ aesthetic is seductive, yet seems to present an ambivalent solution for Sweeney. The abstractness and dissonance in modern art are presented as a trap that graphic popism and ready-made subject matter only partially negotiate. Sweeney gleefully paints himself out of one corner and into another, a sense of artistic freedom (and entrapment) leading to a frenzy of signification and expression. (Alexander Kennedy)
MIXED MEDIA ILANA HALPERIN doggerfisher, Edinburgh, Fri 6 May—Sat 25 June
in contemporary critical thought the subject is fragmented so that it rx rlflt“, 7. r ream-.t rlo- .:i ~ constellation of identifications and conflicting ideas. a crumbling rum in. thr- rr:., hr ..1 r So why does it seem so difficult to grow. change? llana Halperrri rerhrrrds. tl‘r thrrt plates grow at the same rate as Our fingernails' — this could have st rrriethinrr tr r « lr curt: .r. Edinburgh's doggerfisher exhibits the drawrngs. t'rlrotographs, llllllfs. :rtiittvl lrlt' .e . .ruri geological specimens that Halperrn made and collected during her stgt, till the i‘,|.t' it ,. Heimaey. lceland. What emerges in ‘Nomadic Landmass‘ is the idea that lurhanrt. il.t-' very Surface and edge of being erased by nature. Halperrn presents intorrrratrr r at will .i volcano that erupted roughly the same time as her birth. Chance. at, the ill'rt‘lr'lt llf ta -.
the self and the uncontrollable other, and the chance of a residehc, in lrelzr'rd. lr: t l l.rl: ertrr this remote ash cone (Eldfell). Her work Witnesses the rhoverrierrt ot .‘llltatyrt ,, «rt “it: firrr w rr :rvrt and unsettling' imaginary narrative between herself and the volcano. with the grit‘.'.’ rr‘w. becoming the nomadic landrnass moving between the two.
Robert Smithson's writing infiltrates a lot of conterriporany art practice. irlli hr. urw critique. while impOrtant at the time for highlighting the disciplining power of the art .-.r ,r‘ i. 7:.2' shifted. Maybe what is needed is an analysis of how 'land art' has been ezml, it"xrrt, r'lew l r- n the gallery system and the art world. This could he one pole of the dialogue. ltlé'f)”1‘:l trr ~r Hr tr. ‘personal seismic shifts' Within the artist. Halperin locates; her protect ill her r,',,r,‘t~:r, experiences. The tradition of creating a relation i)(3t‘.“.’(:(3ll the land and the terrraie fir/t. . present as a historic fact. but more than this us if that .vere a r’r,>:,.<,er:rnr; irrtertrretgrtwi. llaizwr'. relates the land to knowledge. to SUDJQCIlVll‘y'. the ‘non srte' of lltittizillit,’ genevari,
(Alexander Kennedyi
NEW TEMPORARY GALLERY CIRCUS CIRCUS
Park Circus, 16 Park Terrace East Lane, Park Street, Glasgow
Continuing the Glasgow tradition of finding an odd spot and filling it up wrth art for a while. Circus Circus has been causrng a stir The Edfell Since opening in March. The temporary gallery occupies a mews Birthday Event cottage and. rather than follow the usual show cycle. has played host to a dizzying array of shows. with a total of nine exhibitions programmed in the run-up to the Closmg Show on Friday 6 May. Thus far. the emphasis has been on new w0rk by recent graduates and emerging artists. from ar0und Scotland. While CirCLis Circus is supported by the Glasgow School of Art Student Assooation. the Mix exhibition. for example. saw Duncan of Jordanstone students take over the space.
Although there has been no overriding theme to the exhibitions to date. the whitewashed domestic interior has inspired and informed much of the work on show. This tendency was addressed directly wrth House. a show that twrsted notions of home. via Janey Hunt's audio tour. which led vrsrtors into the adjoinrng (occupied) home. and. thanks to than Nicholas' infestation of origami butterflies. the upper room was turned outside in. The RCCA Spring Arirma/ Show brOLight more fauna — and a sauna. redOubling the repurposmg of the space. The high turnover of exhibitions is matched by busy group shows. often featuring as many as ten artists filling up the space's back rooms and stairwells. And if non-stop work by the next generation isn't enough to tempt you. past opening nrghts have been rather raucous affairs. wrth live mUSlC to boot. (Jack Mottram)
2‘: LIX—‘2 ‘fla, 223", THE LIST 105