kifili'smuuz
Lost, found and recycled
Katja Strunz's stark wall pieces resemble folded paper objects. They almost look like paper aeroplanes that have just happened to land in the space. Yet, on closer inspection, you see they are made from wood - acute angled shards of painted wood, splintering across gallery walls.
The forthcoming exhibition at doggerfisher marks the German-born artist's first major solo show in the UK. After initially studying painting, Strunz stopped in the mid-90$ to concentrate on creating sculptural wall reliefs which she has since gone on to exhibit, both nationally and internationally. For doggerfisher she will be
Untitled 2003
creating an installation comprising found and wooden objects and a floor sculpture.
Inspired by minimalism, and more specifically, Robert Smithson's wall reliefs of 1963-65, Strunz likes to recycle objects as well as ideas. She employs clean geometric forms and industrially produced materials for her wall objects. For the viewer, the wood reliefs can be seen and experienced in different ways due to their angled forms. Light and shade, and height and depth alter, depending on your viewpoint. The intimate folds or
creases of the structures hide internal spaces.
‘I like the idea of a constellation of different things coming together,‘ says Strunz. ‘The wall objects are very abstract. They don‘t have much meaning but they have a physical presence in a room.‘
For the viewer, seeing the works in a gallery setting is a very physical experience. Your eye starts to wonder, taking in all the objects dotted around the space. And, although the installation may look haphazard, much
thought and time has gone into the final assemblage.
‘The installation is a very important part of the work,‘ says Strunz. ‘I like to be there and if I‘m not, it’s very strange experience for me. I like the way objects fall into a room and as they fall, they gain more and more
presence.’ (Helen Monaghan) I doggerfisher. 5:38 fl It), I Aug—27 Sop. free.
Umber on Orange and Red (New York 1951)
PAINTING JON SCHUELER: TO THE NORTH
Vigorous and vibrant studies of nature O...
The Atlantic has been crossed by Scots in largely one direction « first (linen bi, a sheep invasion and then offering a tax haven to a 'shertain ShNP actorsh.‘ Less common is that journey made the other way r0und. But to one Milwaukee-born painter. Jon Schueler, the light and space of western Scotland proved Irresistible. Cutting his teeth on the New York art scene amid a world of emerging abstract expreSSionists Such as Rothko. Schueler took the essence of their beliefs and SOUth inspiration amid the light and elements around Mallaig. his adopted home.
This is the first major British retrospective of his work. It has been hung with great care and each canvas has the space to emanate energy with its vigorous and vibrant Oils — reds. Oranges. yellows Jump off the walls. You'll either love it Or hate it. More evocative and ambiguOus are the works painted in the dreich or struggling light of Scotland. Their muted tones have a magical quality where Schueler's philosophy — ‘To paint is to look out and to look in, one ViSion forming and obchring the other, creating that mist and shadowed image which is birth. which is life' — c0uld truly be born out. iRuth HedgeSl I City Art Centre. 529 3993. until 27 Sep, free.
78 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 3‘. Jul—7 Aug 2033
Prioi'oomviiv ONE HUNDRED GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS: A COLLECTION BY BRUCE BERNARD
Frozen moments in time 00.
Ribbons of si k biomng .n the breeze. the exixi'me of Mtlilélll‘ll‘éitl Ali's back. a Biizi-tlhis’. procession "fl rig its way throagl‘ a Hiléith. These are just sense of the Wire memorable images froth this exhibition. .'.l‘l(,i‘. (;<:'.i:is ‘i‘;{ years of photography,
It's a vast area to coger but pictu'e editor Brace Hernar“: rose to the chaienge ant: created a <:ol:e<:t:or‘ that l"ixes the historical with the populist aittl the professional photograpl‘er '.-.;th the aii‘ateur. It is not an ouerg, (:th'ill‘<_; exhibition but it does ntartage to create a j()'.."i".(;, into the past i.-.ihere photography (taptiireo ii‘<-;asii"e<i {jiiiiipses of people and their “JCS.
Photographs that capture the pathos of orilinar‘, people are always spelll'iintling and the images r f people i‘. the put; by Graham Smith and David ‘lise are excellent examples of not Just taking an image. but capturii‘g the at'iiosphere an!) the person as well. Photography is an art and Bernard has done his oest to reveal the beauty of pllt)i0{)fat)l“, and its ability to freeze moments of life forezer 'lsabella \‘leir,
I Dean Ga/lerv 624 6200, until Sun 7 Sep, free.
Girl in a Hartlepool Pub, 1986 by David Wise
TOGOSEE...
I CRAIGIE AITCHISON
1 . It’s been a long time . . . This is the first time in 33 years that this Edinburgh-born artist has had a selling show in his native Scotland. It's been seven years since his retrospective at the opening of Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art and is only the third time he has shown in Scotland. 2. The modern master
of colour . . .
Despite his disdain for lazy labels such as 'naive' Of ‘primitive'. Aitchison's work is undoubtedly pared-down. Ari almost pre- Renaissance. iconographic approach to imagery is paired with those aesthetic essentials. colour and composition. His composition is as austere. pure and restrained as a haiku but. as one of the foremost colourists working in the UK today. Aitchison's vibrant tones and hues are heady. Sun-soaked and romantic.
3- Over to Aitchison . . .
For haters of all things high- faluting. Aitchison adopts a jargon- free approach to his work: 'My pictures are always of something; they're not just 'planes of colour' or anything posh like that.‘ 'Nuff said.
4- Brian Sewell will
be irritated . . .
Along with a series of hand- painted etchings. some of the 15 paintings which will make up the exhibition will subsequently be shown at the Royal Academy in London. where Aitchison has a major exhibition this autumn. A Scottish debut? Surely not!
5. For those who hate a Sensation . . .
As an CBE-holding. Jervvood Prize-winning Royal Academlclan. Aitchison was one of the RA artists who threatened to reslgn ln protest over the 'grossly offensive' works in the Royal Academy Sensation show in 1997. Presumably. then, he won’t be illustrating any more of Jeffrey Archer's children's books such as 1994's The First Miracle? . . . (Susannah Thompson)
l Ingleby Gallery, 556 4441, 6 Aug—13 Sep, free.