reviews ART
l Droog Design ~ j 3 Glasgow: The Lighthouse until Sun 6 ' ' - ' .
FrankfurterSchule 2000
Glasgow: Exhibition Centre until Sat 3 Jun i: *1 sir
Given the FrankfurterSchule tag, you might expect this exhibition to comprise work of an artistic movement, united by themes, aims or techniques. In fact, the OppOSIte is true. The works, in the main produced by graduates of the Frankfurt Academy Of Fine Arts, provrcle a snapshot of contemporary art practice. At the more traditional end of the spectrum, Sandip Shah stands out, presenting a triptych of distinctly tin-religious icons, with bondage Vignettes in place of saints. Caroline Krause‘s Parade, the only straightfc)r\.vai'cl paintings on show, are Similarly striking fatix-tnept, freeze- frames of cl’ieerlcxtders and bandsmen.
lt is the more consc sously avant—qarde works that impress, however. Printed Matters by llaegue Young grabs attention by skewmcj the perception of a familiar object. It shows a notebook ruled ‘.‘.’ltil ‘\.‘-.'()nky lines, the pomt being that Young's notebook would look quite at home in a stationers’ Window and yet it remains up to the Viewer to
Without Day
Edinburgh: City Art Centre until Sat 3 Mnkia
Ian Hamilton Finlay imagines the new Parliament
Here is a computer Virus that really should be taken seriously. Whenever the words ’Scottish’, ’Parliament’ or ’derriocracy' were used on communication systems in the Scottish Parliament, the words ’Running the country, are you?’ would appear. It's a question that would gently but continuously needle the politicians out of coinplacenc y one would hope. Conceived by Alan Woods, this is one
Drug culture: Marcus Graf's Heroin
decide its status as artwork, stationery, or both.
There are also a number of audio— visual presentations. Eva Kostner sets up two monitors facing each other. One shows footage of three women kitted out with snake-like breast extensions, the other the same trio wearing spiked neck braces. It gives a playful critique of fetishistic representations of the female form. It is Micki Tschur, though, who is most representative, in the sense that her series of hand-made ’mass-market’ goods featuring Spanky Monkey (from T-shirts to bottle openers), ultimately fails to satisfy.
It is not that Tschur's work is in any sense sub-standard, but the simultaneous document of an obsession With a fake toy srmian, an extended masturbation pun and a half- hearted critique of consumerism poses interesting questions, but remains diverting as opposed to interesting. In the end, FrankfurterSchule 2000 is valuable in its broad scope, but much of the work on display misses the mark —< if only by a fraction. (Jack Mottram)
of many responses to an open inVitation launched last year to suggest events, works of art or interventions for the Scottish Parliament. None of these proposals would be realised. Here, however, there is a taste of some of the proposals. A photograph shows the artist Nathan Coley standing with his arms crossed looking out to the building site in Edinburgh where one day will stand the Parliament. The work is called Waiting On The Scottish Parliament. Chiming in with this is William Furlong’s $0und installation. The words ’I’ve not voted for years’ echo around the space followed by the line 'lt’s not been a topic of conversation’. On election day last year, Furlong randomly interviewed peOple on the streets about their hopes for a new Scotland. These are some of the responses.
Yet the best way to enjoy the full breadth of vision demonstrated by the many proposals is to read the anthology, Without Day. Rows of the book sit in the gallery and reading the sometimes humorous, often inSightful proposals is way more absorbing than the actual exhibition.
(Susanna Beaumont) I Without Day (Pocketbooks [7.99)
3 Aug *****
The first major exhibition of Droog Design objects in the UK is based on an idea so simple, and so perfect, that it ought to become standard curatorial practice. A range of products, from a doorbell through to wine glasses, were selected by Renny Ramakers and Gijs Baker, co-founders of this Euro design agency. The objects were then loaned out to various Glasgow households who were asked to make video diaries in response to the works, and allow themselves to be filmed usmg them.
The exhibition takes the form of edited highlights of the couples and families interacting with the temporary additions to their liVing space And in the main, the response from the guinea pig-households to the Droog objects was one of enthusiastic endorsement. Martijn Hoogendijki's pallet bed, for example, quickly become a focal point in the McKewan-Radcliffe home for toddlers a'td grown- ups alike.
This novel approach to an exhibition about design allows “.(lS {cits a genuine insight into products as products, rather than objects intended lo' egw'nlay use but displayed purely for aesthetic consideration, (Jack Motzranu
" as as,
Charlie and his cat caught on video
EH4
Edinburgh: Bellevue Gallery until Sat 3Mn****
Four Edinburgh-based artists, Ann McCluskey, Alan Kilpatrick, Ian Healy and Mark l’Anson, occupy the ground floor of this Georgian townhouse gallery, in their first showrng as a group.
McCluskey's oil on canvas paintings are perfectly set-off by the sharp, clean borders. The layers of rich colour, applied and removed as the palette knife drags across the canvas, creates the textured, bark-like surface.
Kilpatrick’s acrylic, Rothko-esque paintings seduce the the gradients of deep reds, crimson, scarlet and carmine to the sealike tones of axon», turquoise and aquamarine is both sumptuous and intense. These lll‘ij)’)\.lll(] coloiii'sc‘apes assault the visual senses. Imagine the most awesome sunset or the bluest, clearest ocean.
Healy’s new portraits are shown alongSide his eerie Hitc hcoc k’s st,c/io style buildings. Using gloss, acrylic and crackle glaze techniques, the figures have extraordinary poise and grace, posmg like 1950s filmstars, with the neck outstretched. But the distressed paint effects used on the face cl'lti the misshapen torsos, are decidedly unsettling.
I'Anson’s figurative paintings appear like old masters, but what distinguishes them is their subject-matter. Working class footballers of the 1920s, with arms folded, rugged faces and short back and sides, reminiscent of sportsmen featured on Will’s cigarette cards. The soft lines and hazy appearance transform the men into ghostly figures. Where are these men now? Are they deceased, forgotten or festering in an old people’s home.
The distinctive styles of each artist and the shear amount of work on show, can be a little overwhelming, but painting of this Quality warrants more than a two second glance. (Helen Monaghan)
Sam Bell
Glasgow: Loft Gallery until Sat 3 Jun *‘kir Sam Bell photographs the urban
landscape. For the last few years she has spent time in London, Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Glasgow, snapping bridges, flyovers and underpasses. It is a concrete landscape with no visible signs of life: a landscape that appears to be a no- man’s land.
Yet Bell presents a picture of the _' urban jungle that is far from bleak, Sam Bell's Saffron Promenade isawalk She is not out to dOCument inner-city 0" the bright 5"“ decay. Bell’s photographs are celebratory. Often taken at dusk, they focus on the curvaceous monunientality of the flyover, the dramatic line-tip of massive concrete piers that line an underpath or the robust eleciance of a l)l:(i(]t‘ And there is colour. Skies are a rich, midnight blue and shafts or light a deep {ellovv in an age which readily uses the image of a clown-at-heel concrete sprawl as a metaphor for the sorrowful state of many an inner-city, Beii presents an alternative View. (Susanna Beaumont)
Young Woman
'2‘.) Lia", 8 Jun foot) THE LIST 85