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BELINDA GUIDI
Tramway. Glasgow. until Sun 10 Apr 0000
The tradition of using minimalist sculpture as an expression of the cold, indifferent face of Power is adapted by Belinda Guidi's ‘Palace' in the Tramway’s Project Room and Upper Foyer Gallery. The weighty presence of her constructions are strengthened by majestic equestrian photographs, geometric monochromatic screen prints and a large electrified star, continuing the theme of abstract monumentality.
Guidi‘s work is generated out of nostalgia for the no- nonsense minimalism of the 19605, where art objects acted like stark exclamation marks, completing the quest for total abstraction, flatness and truth to materials implicit in modernism. ‘Ultramodern' (powder-coated mild steel) could simply dominate the small Project Room, but Guidi's use of geometrical forms and mass produced materials mirrors the room's industrial feel, and the red bars of the fractured three- dimensional rhomboidal structure open out into the space, meeting the viewer rather than shunning her/him. In the same room the screen-prints ‘a-g’ act like punctuation marks wrestled free of words - a hermetically sealed bombastic sentence that is directed at you.
In minimalist art a taboo is placed on representation, so it is fitting that when the iconic figure re-enters, it does so with fanfare and aplomb. Guidi explores this idea in her ‘Cavalier’ series (two digital photo print diptychs), using the figure as a stylised cipher of power, an embodiment of our control of nature through industry and will. Figures in symbolic regalia proudly sit on magnificent horses, dominating manicured landscapes and looking both regal and ridiculous in their embroidered finery. (Alexander Kennedy)
F’HC) T (AX ERAPHY
PHILOSOPHER,S GARDEN grooding black and whiteimages, Gallery of Modem Art, Glasgow. until Sun efleclions. shado~.‘.is, beams of .ia/y light. 8 May ... the blur of water and (lappled light. all hand solemnly on the gallen, walls. It is calming ‘It is manifestly against the law of Nature . . . and darkly tranquil. that a handful otpeop/e sliou/r'l wallow in But the low ceiling and constant, loner whii unnecessary luxuries while the starvrng of the air conditioning create a heavy feel to multitude lacks the basic necessities of life. ' these dense images. They do not capture it t‘.‘ This quote from Jean Jacques Roi. sseau notion of freedom and contemplation redolent introduces; the man whose garden at in Roussmu’s musings. Ermenonvrlle and influence on the garden of In the second room photographs, of Ian Hamilton Finlay are the subject of Hamilton Finlay's l rttle Sparta. with sculpture. photographs by Robin Glllélll£lt3ff3. The words columns and plagues bearing words relating suggest einaiicipation and the desire for to Rouss :au are on display. including one of transcendence: they are stirring. politically Hamilton Finlay himself in front of a bust and poetically. inscribed with SOUR VASE lsoor face). s9me day soon Walking around the first room. you follow Sadly, the glum expression is a little too ll! by Dawd McCracken \ the path of billanders in Ermenonvrlle as he keeping wrth the mood of the show. whereas H illustrates ten solitary walks by Rousseau. The a radical young energy and struggle for égLéco1-LAND experience is meditative. as words by the pe sonal and uriive sal freedom was more G|asgow print Studio. until Sat 16 Apr ... philosopher echo between the large. Rousseau s theme. iRuth Hedges,
“.a' it» knots. lt.t‘.‘.’ to respond to a show like CELScotland. a “ war (Alibi: error: t"om Dundee Contempoiaw Arts, Edinburgh t""".'l‘.:'\t"t§. t‘i .t:;gtv.-.~ Punt Starlet) and Aberdeen's Peacock Visual pm; l' :1istwetausert'snot. as the blurb says. there to ‘promote the .inatvritantisng and appreciation of contemporary printmaking in 5;»..a'xi' it‘s; {new to riot; prints. Fair enough. this is a commercial w'itrvrvwztx :in tltere's no ritiration as such. just affordable work by Scotland's best artists. irionked on the wall. much of it was: ‘a'niliar from the last time (3P8 mounted one of these ." t "‘:;l1i“.'. Here’s: :‘yfartiit Bettie}: Disappear Here' again. for example —- it's still stt'l spending time With but. well. it's not as if the ink ;::t -1 we: tn” that particular piece. A trio of abstracts. two culled from but 30:: last at t'te Modem. institute. Brushing Against Strange '.'.:v-ar;:r, ‘artr better. the fat prints a shock compared with the gloss- xt"'.t‘-r: 't‘eta‘ .‘llrtlll‘itliS. Other \‘.ka .s likely to be familiar too: \’ was more txra‘s‘ heads. say or Toot Paterson's pair " scww-q-“rwr‘ts. 'F‘ra'khni' and ‘Varzl Plan‘ — the former a boundary Zia "fade architect amoeba. the latter a frnnick; fencing in of t‘a\.:rtt;, sl‘it‘! through with lines 0‘ red. teilov.’ 'dlld i‘.'t‘.i‘.€. (3000 e". or note from Christine Borland. Richaro Wright an: Ca ism tones. 'nakng for either a asetui show or a pointless one. corona-rig 0" whether "tOuVe .n the market for a print or two.
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