PERFORMANCE IDANHIDSH1£FHWY
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Thu 11 Dec-Sun 15 Feb
David Sherry makes work that investigates the impact of small changes and interruptions to the strictures and structures of daily life. These can be slight, as in the early work David Sherry Carries a Bucket of Water About for a Week, or dramatic, as in Stitched, a video piece that shows Sherry sewing blocks of wood to his feet.
His new show continues these themes, united under the banner of what Sherry has dubbed lnterremoteness. ‘lnterremoteness is the idea of being part of something, but being removed from it,’ he explains. ‘lt’s the idea of having some sort of loyalty absence, being involved in situations in work or life, and being removed from them at the same time.’
As well as texts expanding on this phenomenon of low key cognitive dissonance, Sherry will be showing performances centred around outstaying one’s welcome. ‘I’ll go in and wait somewhere, just before they shut,’ he says. ‘Places like Kelvingrove Hall or WHSmiths, and I’ll just browse around for a while until someone asks me to leave. I’m always looking at my daily structure and trying to upset it in some way, or trying to find a prop so I can look at it in a new way. This performance is almost a prop to find out more about why I enjoy being in shops.’
These performances carry an element of dark humour, a theme Sherry is set to push further with a series of pieces concerning a headless man.
‘I do set out to make work that is quite humorous,’ Sherry admits. ‘But then I try to set up a contradiction. One of the films is a headless man running around to a soundtrack of Willie Nelson singing, but there are also some photographs that are gory, that really look like a man who’s had his head chopped off. I think the best way to come up with something new is to have two contradictions, with something going on in between that you can’t really work out. You might have a bit of
PHOTOGRAPHY FAN'GNJDNVHI: LANDMARKS National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 11 Jan 0000
d LL; air a. CHIPS, V
Fish and chips, Manningham, 1986
Fay Godwin rs undoubtedh; better known for her black and whrte landscapes; than her portraiture.
“be ~
I haven’t touched another human being in months, 2003
gore and a bit of humour, and you’re left with
abstract or social documentary studies. This l'()ll'()f§l)()(ill‘.'(3 of around 2:30 rmages sets the record straight and celebrates her diverse achievements.
The sheer an‘ount of work on display
rs a little daunting and a slightly smaller selection would have allox‘red each photograph the space to breath. But this Is only a minor gripe. The first Images you come acrr ss are Godz‘xrn's stunnrng lllOléll‘, portraits. Photographed rn the home enmronment. they give us a glrn‘pse of the personality behind the ‘.'.rords. Kingsley Amrs r lth'utr sits at hrs type'.'.rr'rter' surrounded b1. reams of paper and empty whisky bottles. I r/ lochhead «199?: checks her make up In a compact while Salman Rushdie r 1913‘.) rs caught loungrng, cigarette lll hand.
(3(xln'xrn's landscapes not only. capture the beauty but also the clash
something in the middle, a mutant for people to work out. The two elements pull in opposite directions and leave you with something to question.’
Finally, Sherry is set to recast the mythical figures Romulus and Remus as a pair of ordinary blokes waking up with a hangover. This might be a move away from the interpolations into everyday matters that have concerned Sherry to date, but the bathetic plunging of the brothers from city-founding legends to indolent slackers holds fast to a central theme of his work: make a change, however small, and you let a little bit of chaos into the order of life. (Jack Mottram)
of man and nature. lhe idyllic scene of a snow capped ntountarn Is interrupted by a n‘an--made road. Barbed wrre fences and stone walls keep the publrc out. Although n‘uch of these works convey a strong political message. Godwm lightens the mood with gurr'ky compositions. In the rniage S/eeprng l’rsherman. [)ungerress ere/1L. a lone lrsher‘rnan srts lll hrs deckcharr \.'.'art|ng tor the catch against a backdrop of a nuclear pox'xer station. (Inc/«2&1! Sa/rdzt’rcrr r1981) sees the player‘s huntrng for the ball Ill a neighbouring lake and saucy postcard type old ladies paddle rn the sea while a young man poses like a bron/ed Adonis III the foreground.
lhere's very little not to lrke Ill this exhibition rthe recent abstracts being the least successful). At trn‘es It's l)l'()‘.’()(2£lll\'(} and powerful. at others punch and perceptive. ll lelen Monaghanr
art@list.co.uk
ART BEAT
r I .. Jerwood winner Polly Braden
THE WINNERS OF THE
inaugural annual Jerwood Photography Awards 2003 were announced recently at an awards ceremony at the Jerwood Space in London. Veronica Bailey, Polly Braden, Edgar Martins, Danny Treacy and Naglaa Walker, each winning a cheque for £2000, were selected from over 600 portfolios of photographs submitted by recent graduates throughout the UK. From photojournalism and digital photography, all five works will be featured in the December issue of Edinburgh-based Portfolio magazine, which also administers the prize.
THE (St/\SGOV.’ MUSEUMS Resoerce Centre in South Nrtshrll. Glasgov. opens rts doors to the public on Friday 98 November. The GMRC holds around 2300.000 preces rn storage \.‘.'h:l(‘; \"JCY'k commences on the relurbrshrnent of the Keixxrngrove Art Garlic-r; and Museum V:s:tors mti be able to ‘.'l€".'.' \.'.'()"KS that were previously only seen bx, muse.r'r: staff :ncludrng parntings. pr‘rrtts. ceramrcs. sculpture and stuffed amnats. lhe centre rs é >cated at 200 \".-"oodhead Road and :s open (lat, 10am—5pm (Saturday and Sunday from t tarm. For more intermatren call 0141 2.76 91500.
SUBMISSIONS ARE INVITED FOR the fifth PizzaExpress Prospects 2004 contemporary drawing prize which awards the winner £10,000 and £2000 for the most promising art student. The judges include Fiona Bradley, director of Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery, and art historian and broadcaster Tim Marlow. For an entry form see www.pizzaexpress.com/ prospects or write to PizzaExpress Prospects, 080 Bell Pottinger, 5th Floor, Holborn Gate, 26 Southampton Buildings, London, WC2A 1BP. The closing date for this year’s prize is 29 February 2004.
AND APOLOGiES (‘10 'l O ARTIST Katr'r \"y’alker', ln our revrew of Disparate i‘fl'CdSU/CS at the lntermedm Gallery :iSSUC 4182;. we \.‘.»'r(‘,ngi\, credrted the piece la Guera to lfrmiy Field but rt was rn tact b3. Katr: \"Valker. Oops. sorry about that.
'\.. " IT-a. .4 THE LIST 93