‘IT BECAME A CHALLENGE TO UNEARTH THE DARK AND ELUSIVE'
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Mat Collishaw has played with fairies in the wood and reworked images of Jesus Christ. He tells Francis McKee how technology may die, but the image lives on.
ollishaw' was one ol‘ the original YBAs. He was part of the. now legendar}. lace/e exhibition ol~ IONS. curated b} Damien llirst in an abandoned l)ockland's building. .-\n upcoming
e\hibition stll‘\'c_\'s (‘ollishtht's fascinating career
since that moment. ‘Most of it is focused on the per\ersion and morbidit} of looking.‘ he sa_\s. "l'he kind ol‘ detachment _\ou ha\e when idling ga/ing at a bird in a cage. or scenes ol‘ violence on the 'l‘\'.‘
While many of his peers in the “)lls went on to create sudden impact works that would tjttickl} be labeled ‘sensational‘. .\Iat (‘ollishaw' outlined what seemed at lirst to be a gentler world ol' enchantment and childhood l‘antas}. llis photograph '(‘atching liairics‘ ll‘N-Il. l'or instance. depicted the artist on a night hunt for incandescent sprites. It was just one stage of an im'estigation ol‘ the more sentimental side of file. e\ploring the illusions we cra\e and the technolog} that creates them l'or tts. .-\ssessing his reaction to the work of his peers at the time. he sa_\ s. ‘I got tired of seeing work that was onl} \isccral. it became a challenge to unearth the dark and elusise side of more 'tw'ee' and romantic materialf
In the images that were to follow in the l‘Nlls. (‘ollishaw' lound ever more subtle w a}s to draw tts into a seemineg innocent world onl} to re\eal its hard edges. Kitsch objects and sentimental cliches were cunningl} employed to cradle photographs and \idco images that were altogether more ambiguous and \'t\}'c‘lll'lsllL‘. In his recent series 'ls'ristalnacht‘ 12003)
for example. photographs of the Nazi destruction ol‘
Jewish businesses in German} are hung in l'uss} gilt lratnes with pulsating cr} stal shards superimposed on
each image. The aw l'ul scenes glimpsed beneath haVe a delibcratcl} h}pnotic tjualit}. (‘ollishaw confesses that 'l low the h_\pnotic inl'luences and tr} to emplo} them in a was that makes them almost religious.‘
The works are e\ecuted in mosaic. reflecting the artist‘s opinion ol~ digital technology ‘I was thinking about the w a} pictures are circulating digitall} as total|_\ codified inl'ormation as opposed to painting and particularl} photograph} which e\ists almost organically Digital images resemble old time mosaics Ill lllc‘ Illijk‘l'stlllttlll} HI~ lllc‘ll‘ c‘tlllsll'llc‘lltlll. 'I‘Ilc‘l‘c‘ is lit)
room in these mediums l'or inlinite nuance. sooner or
later the closer )ou get sou will conl'ront one pixel that has an absolute \altie.'
llis use of religious iconography howexer. is not an attempt to ponder theological questions. rather an attempt to oppose the cold digital l'uture: ‘I used imager} ol' sul‘lcring that descr\ ed a human touch but w erc denied it b_\ being harnessed digitall}. l remade them as handmade mosaics to gi\c them a futile bttt also rational appearance an attempt to elicit some pathos from a medium that was essentially indil‘l‘erent. I see digital images as godless and secular: a new media that honours onl} digits.‘
(‘ollishaw's scepticism about the limits of. image- making lccllnolog} pcr\ades all his work. a trait he summarises in a trenchant obserx'ation: 'l'sing media
from different periods emphasises the perversity ol'
tr_\ing to pin down an image: 'l‘echnolog} dies. the image li\es on.‘
Mat Collishaw, lnverleith House, Edinburgh, Sat 15 Jan - Sun 13 Mar
Visual Art >l<
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THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
it: Ellen Gallagher Trippy, scratched 8 movies. oceanic reams of thick, cut watercolour paper and 396 fabulous plasticine wugs. New York artist Gallagher deals with issues of race, culture and mythology in many wonderful ways. See review. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 73 Feb
it: l-lolbein to Hockney — Drawings from the Royal Collection, With a head start on most collectors. the Queen’s family have built up a rare old stock of sketches. Here, the best are assembled for your humble enjoyment. Why, thank you, ma'am. Queen's Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 6 Mar
:2: Mat Collishaw YBA generation artist with a lot more to explore than just himself. A look back on his work over the last ten years takes in among many other things Kristalnacht, Jesus and Ophelia. See preview. lnverleith House. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Sat 75 Jan— Sun 20 Feb
ii: Ed Ruscha Epic and profane California bids goodbye this month, so if you haven't thumbed through the little books of gas stations or puzzled over the big canvases of mountain and text, this is your last chance. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, until Sun 16 Jan
:3: Kate Davis Glasgow-based artist whose drawings and installations attack your mind and body and leave them reeling with questions and gut feelings. Sorcha Dal/as Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 22 Jan
:2: Simon Faithful’s Antarctica Dispatches Since November artist Faithful has been journeying to Antarctica and emailing daily sketches from his palm pilot. Here they appear as laser etched plastic signs in the final fortnight of his voyage. CCA, Glasgow, until Sun 76 Jan.
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