Visual Art
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REVIEW PAINTING, SCULPTURE, INSTALLATION GROUP SHOW Doggerfisher, Edinburgh, until Sat 26 Apr 000
Doggerfisher’s annual group show brings together work by recent graduates and more established artists. Refreshingly, the gallery unites the six artists via an interest in formal concerns with space and surroundings rather than a tacked on or tenuous theme. As might be expected of a group exhibition, the work on show varies in quality. Yet, while the overriding ephemeral appearance at times appears flimsy, it also creates unity and coherence.
The exhibition is at its most interesting when the time taken to execute the work is concealed, so an accidental appearance is created from what is in fact well made and substantial. When entering the space we first encounter Albrecht Schafer’s sculpture ‘Noguchi Split No. 3’: a cut into and deconstructed lampshade that seems to lack both physical substance and conceptual depth. More compelling are his ‘Balloon’ sculptures, which are made from plaster and metal, yet appearing to be ordinary helium filled balloons left to float away and cling to the ceiling. Similarly, while Neil
Clements’ paintings appear rashly executed, his ‘Untitled’ sculpture is carefully constructed from steel, neon and timber yet retains a makeshift quality. Claire Barclay’s ‘Mock Up’ sculpture is also made from carefully hewn or found elements, including brass, wood, fabric and mirror, all of which seem to have been thrown carelessly into what is actually a deliberately composed pile.
By far the most immediately seductive work in the show is Jonathan Owen’s ‘Untitled’, a black rubber car mat out of which baroque swirls have been meticulously cut. This piece exemplifies the substantial yet accidental theme. The odd combination of intricate pattern and heavy tactile rubber is both sinister and enticing. His ‘Untitled’ interwoven book pages are similarly immaculate yet more suggestive and poetic. There are other elements to the exhibition which are more difficult to engage with, such as a jumbled collection of objects which we are told are the remnants of a performance from the opening night, and part of the exhibition which continues in the gallery office. Yet, in spite of this, the strongest works in this show leave a lasting impact. (Rosie Lesso)
CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 29 Mar 0000
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REVIEW FILM AND SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION LET ME SHOW YOU SOME THINGS: THE MAGIC LANTERN, ROBERT ORCHARDSON AND SARAH TRIPP
REVIEW : iII.‘ LUKE FOWLER: BOGMAN PALMJAGUAR
Transmission Gallery. Glasgow. RUN ENDED 00000
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Fowler's dreamlike style dips III and out of Palrntaguar's recollections, merging thern With last (:ut Images; of the damp, nIIst shrouded countryside. ()ver these, occasionally
Palnijaguar speaks of the fauna and Wildlife of his enVIrorInIent in a soft, encouraging v0i(:e which suggests a man deserving of the peace he craves. who can't quite escape the OftICIous agonies of (:IVilisation, Yet. when we see lllllt, he doesn't look anyone in the eye and wears feathered IiIasks as a matter of course. challenging our own reaction to his eccentricity. III Fowler‘s art. documentary. reality and perception blur into an absorbing whole. which can be clearly understood, although never fully explained. (DaVId Pollock)
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This collaborative Installation brings together a large collection of films preVIously shown at The Magic Lantern (an Independent film night at the CCA;. a new film by Sarah Tripp and sculptures by Robert Orchardson. The short film format I:; Ideally suited to screening In the gallery space. Longer features can quickly becorvie wallpaper. and the Viewer can feel pinned to the wall or the chair. in some kind of eyeballing contest With the screen. That said. it's worth spending half an hour With Tripp's film — a meditative examination of the abyss between an orphaned brother and Sister. where flights of nostalgia. card games. fonune telling fish and hot air balloon
In CCA 2. a modernist construction with no discernible use by Orchardson becorries
a collection of flat rectangular SCreens on which shons (curated by The Magic Lantern for the Glasgow Film Festival) are shown. The gallery-goer. now in TV watching mode. can flick through seven chapters, grOups of films shown under thematic titles such as Kim and Kin', ‘Night TerrOrs' and 'How do I Love You?‘ With the gallery almost empty. the Viewer can Jump back and forth at will, following their own whims and desires. This means that your mood or procliwties unfold in front of you. meandering thr0ugh award winning films about gay wrestlers In Iceland I‘Wrestling' by Grimur Hakonarsson), for instance. and drunk dads In India I‘Bare’. by Santana lssarI. (Alexander Kennedy;
96 THE LIST 13—27 Mar 2008