: LISTINGS: GLASGOW 61 EDINBURGH 63 i _
The show : must go on
Against a background of deficit and redundancies. The Third Eye Centre has succeeded in opening the exhibition Other Frontiers. Sarah Knox ambushed its installation to talk to the curator and the pioneers.
ldon‘t know who is to blame. perhaps the Germaine Greers of this world. but alarm bells ring when a gallery mounts an all-women exhibition and the catalogue debates 'Feminism'. Katherine Wood. the curator. is consequently eager to explain the exhibition's context. On the strength ofa Scottish Arts Council research grant. she made a whistle-stop tour ofC‘anadian cities in search of artists who were breaking new ground. In each city she was introduced to artist-run galleries and it became apparent that many more women than men were established artists. The
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result of this crusade brings together work which is united in spirit. even if the artists concerned live hundreds ofrniles apart.
Nell 'I‘enhaaf’s installation Species Life is both conceptually and technologically ambitious. Luminous computer images representing models of DNA are framed in horizontal boxes. Over this image is a language code and beneath it a photograph of a human cell dividing. "l‘he I representation of science is a gold mine.’ says v 'l‘enhaafquestioning the predominantly male domain of science and technology. ‘lt operates around the issue ofwhat‘s true and what's not true. , , ., ,, ,, ,, , . ; , This piece takes popular scientific imagery and ' r ~ * "’ " -- questions whether it is a truthful representation. ls science as objective as it claims to be‘.’ 'l‘here‘s a text which is subjective and where does that come from‘."
On an adjacent panel a couple are depicted walking into the sunset above a DNA landscape. but this idealised image is punctuated by incompatible quotations. The division of these theories reflects the division of the cell and ‘the choice in relation to tampering with genetics’.
The biological theme is sustained in Lee Dickson‘s installation. Part I called "l'he Heart is situated in the center of the chest because
conditions are more temporate there.‘ consists of
36 sculptures of the ‘heart‘ presented on tripods
and arranged on a black steel grid. I watched as
some halfdozcn ‘hearts‘ were unwrapped from the crate; each is made from a contrasting material and has an individual form and texture: seaweed. cloves. crown of thorns. woven seed beads and welded tacks. like ‘hearts‘ are complemented by
A detail trom Canadian artist Lee Dickson's snapnilv lined ‘The heart is situated inlhe center at the chest because conditions are more temperate there'.
Part II. a black and white photographic display which skilfully juxtaposes a diverse collection of ‘heart' quotes and diagrams.
Stepping over ceramic candelabra and urns. Gisele Amantea explains that her 2-1 x 10ft plaster edifice White Folly charts ‘a personal narrative‘Z ‘I am fascinated by people who have no art education. no motive to make art.‘ she says. ‘and yet fulfil their creative urge.‘ From North America to Anstruther. (iisele has photographed walls embedded with shells and shard and is equally sentimental about the knick-knackery cluttering homes. This tableau pays homage to the female hobby of ‘grecnware‘ (the practice ofglazing ceramics to decorate homes). ()ver 16.000 miniature ornaments are encrusted in (iisele's While Fol/y and it delights her that ‘art is equalised‘; stetson hats lie next to pagodas.
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craft in a gallery she reinvests it with value.
Mina Totino's delicate flower paintings on black tar paper similarly mimic popular black velvet paintings or flock wallpaper. Nineteenth century wallpaper designs are borrowed fora series called f (over, (fir/s. Fragmented female faces stare out from behind borders. their features partially veiled by lists of female names and a text. There is no clear narrative but the images haunt and challenge stereotypes of beauty and presentation.
()ther Frontiers interconnects at many levels and forges new frontiers in the use of materials and expression of ideas. Eat your heart out Germaine Greer!
()tlzer Frontiers. Third Eye Centre. Glasgow. until I September.
60 The List 26 July — 8 August l99l
poodles sit beside rococo vases. By celebrating this '