www.list.co.uk/visualart VisualArt
REVIEW GROUP SHOW THE MUTUAL MEMBERS SHOW Glue Factory, Glasgow, until Sat 18 Dec ●●●●●
The Mutual artist collective was formed in 2009 by four Glasgow School of Art graduates in an attempt to stave off postgraduate malaise. Two years later, with a 200-strong member base, they have invited their artists to participate in a month-long residency running up to an exhibition at the Glue Factory. Artists have responded to the building’s distinctive dingy features by occupying nooks and crannies, claiming paint chipping from the walls, juxtaposing fragile collage against textured brickwork, and hanging mobiles from the ceiling. Underneath the chaotic surface, there is an orderly undercurrent. Negotiation for use of the space started well in advance of other recent shows at the factory.
Highlights include Calum Thom’s
installation ‘Super Future Nazi II: Revenge of the Taliban’; Tawny Kerr’s shadow play with ‘Divining rods converge upon a false positive’; and waving a flag for the orange race is Ralph Mackenzie’s print entitled ‘Glasgow Tan: 33 Salons’. But it is the more considered site-
specific work that excels here. Towering above you in an enclosed space is Richard Davies’ ‘Erotic Chimera’, a fluffy white guillotine with rotating disco ball, its dissonant qualities equally alluring and repelling. Projected back onto the wall where it was filmed is ‘Blue Yemanja’, a beautiful multi-layered animation by Jenny Baynes based on the Brazilian goddess of the sea. Employing archetypal symbols and bodies in the nude, only an artist worthy of her trade would embrace the icy conditions of the derelict factory in December. (Talitha Kotzé)
REVIEW GROUP SHOW INTERFERENCE WITH TWIGS Mary Mary, Glasgow, until Sat 15 Jan ●●●●●
Like a casting of the runes, Interference with Twigs brings together the work of artists from four corners of the world across two generations to weave together new interpretations and enter into dialogue like old friends in this finely executed exhibition. All four artists take pleasure in the traditional forms of
representation, composing shapes and layering colour to form patterns. The result is a show oscillating between abstraction and representation: simple, yet effectual. The vintage work of Audrey Capel Doray brings a gravitas to the exhibition and the other pieces relate from comfortable counterpoint positions. The mobiles of Hanna Sandin could easily be mistaken for being of the same generation as Capel Doray, but her
objects take the form of new plastics, steel and present day materials. As a young artist living in New York, her mode of working is more congruent with the vibrant patterns that Glasgow-based Nicolas Party has painted directly onto the wall. In ‘Kicking Yellow’ on the one, and ‘Lenor Blue’ on the other, two patterns of repeated wavering leaves each act as a backdrop to his monochromatic still lifes of unsophisticated, almost stylised tea pots. There is an immediacy to many of the works – Party’s
wall paintings, Lotte Gertz’s unframed woodcuts and the simple shapes and textures of Sandin’s mobiles consisting of steel rods, rubber pads, nylon coated steel thread, rubber tile, an exercise band.
Interference with Twigs reinforces a history of studio concerns and the amplitude of the resulting effect is equal to the sum of the combining works. (Talitha Kotzé)
REVIEW INSTALLATION CHILDISH THINGS Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 23 Jan ●●●●●
David Hopkins, curator of Childish Things, has created a wonderfully subversive tribute to childhood. The title is deceiving: the imagery and atmosphere of this exhibition is not designed for children – at least, not for those who are faint of heart. Rather it is a look backwards at the images and objects we once cherished, presented in a manner that is familiar but jarring.
Jeff Koons’ larger-than-life ‘Bear and Policeman’ welcomes entrants in a most sinister manner. Almost immediately Susan Hillier’s four-screen multimedia documentary ‘An Entertainment’ beckons through a dark tunnel. All time stops as you immerse yourself in the Lynchian multimedia installation, which allows adults to witness Punch and Judy shows from the perspective of the child, in an immersive and often frightening fashion. The mangled tones of the
puppets are translated by a polite voiceover, while women and babies are beaten (and all is shown in quadruple glory) culminating in a disorientating cacophony of sound and movement that could stir even the sternest of hearts. Wandering, dazed and confused, out of the
darkness you encounter Paul McCarthy’s ‘cisuM fo dnuoS ehT / The Sound of Music’, a rare opportunity to watch a childhood favourite backwards and upside down, complete with reversed singing. Remarkably, it works, despite the menace of the Von Trapp family retreating from the mountains to perform in front of the assembled Nazis. The upper floors offer a less immersive experience, but the general feeling of unease continues with another piece from McCarthy in the form of ‘Children’s Anatomical Figure’, whose innards spill glibly out onto the floor as if attacked by clumsy giant toddlers. Childish Things is an intriguing and overwhelming experience – enter at your own risk. (Miriam Sturdee)
16 Dec 2010 – 6 Jan 2011 THE LIST 105