Visual Art
As Glasgow’s TRAMW
year itch
‘T HE BRAVEST THING WOULD BE NOT TO HAVE A BIENNALE’
‘Between Yes and No, Stay and Go’ by Rob Kennedy
prepares to be a satellite to the Lyon Biennale,
Alexander Kennedy looks at the relentless global rise of the biennale.
ith bicnnalc l'chr striking thc glubc. c\ct‘}unc
wants a piccc ul‘ thc hut art actiun. ’l‘hcrc arc
nuw ncarl} |()() citics husting cuntcmpurar} art bicnnials. \\'h_\' nut'.’ 'l'hc inaugural (ilasguw lntcrnatiunal carlicr this ycar upcnctl tu critical acclaim. bringing tugcthcr many intcrnatiunall} signilicant artists (Barbara Krugcr at (}u.\l.'\ and Santiago Sicrra at 'l‘ramwa)’. ctcl. and placing (ilasguw and its lucal talcnt lirml} un thc wurltl stagc. (ilasguw has alwa_\s bccn impurtant in thc art \\t)i'ltl. but thc amuunt ul~ prcss Lilitl ct‘lliL‘tll cmcragc thc wtit'k (ili Sk‘tilllllltli\ iiL‘\\ cuntcmpurary artists has rccci\ctl has suarctl. Sumcthing‘s happcning. but w hat‘.’
'l‘hrcatcnctl with clusurc in Zillil. 'l‘ramwa} bccamc a bcacun lur thc art \‘icwing public tlurmg (il 3005. ’l‘hc gallcr) has cuntinuctl tu strcngthcn its intcruatiunal rcputatiun and national rulc. and this munth crcatcs links with l._\un and its bicnnalc with a ncw c\hibitiun ul‘ wurk b} (ilasguw-basctl artists (and two gucsts l'rum hum) c\pluring thc thcmc irunicall) ul‘ thIIpuralit). 'l‘ramw'ay is unc ul six liurupcan \cnucs Iu c\hibit rclatctl shuws tu L‘tilllL‘ltlL‘ with thc liicimalc tl‘art cuntcmpurain tlc l._\'un. with uthcrs in l‘ranltl'urt. .\lilan. l’aris. Vilnius antl '/.urich.
In lit’lii't't'n 'li'im's will shuw what l‘i\c artists all cxhibiturs at rcccnt Bicnnalcs aruuntl thc wurltl ha\ c bccn wurking un t)\‘L‘l‘ thc last _\car (it st), 'l‘hc participating artists Katlcr .-\ttia. Rub lx'cnnctl). Rusalintl .\'ashashihi. l.uc) Slxacr antl l‘abicn \crschacrc
c\aminc stur_\tclling antl lil_\lll—lilttl\lllf_‘. aml thc
itlculugics that support thcm. l,urrainc \\'ilsun. curator
at thc 'l‘ramwa}; sccs thc c\hibitiun as ’a \\;I_\ ul' linking
92THELIST. ". ..
up tlil'lcrcnt citics whilst still lctting cach \cnuc rcmain iIItlcpcntlcnt'. \\'ith 'l’ramway 2’s hangar-likc spacc in lililitl. \\’ilsun sins: "l‘hc spacc brings its uwn dynamic. l likc to think it cncuuragcs an artist tu tr_\' sumcthing ncw. tu rcall} push thc huuntlarics ul‘ what thcy liilVC tltilit‘ lVClitil‘L‘.‘
litlinhurgh ('ullcgc ul‘ Art‘s .\'cil Mulhullantl brings stark rcalit) tu thc buum in bicnnalcs. rclating what hc calls ‘bicnnialisatiun’ with unchcckctl cultural culunialism and ‘thc .\lcl)unaltlisatiun ul‘ art. with murc ul' thc samc. murc ul‘tcn. and in murc placcs‘. It's tlil‘l'icult tu tlisagrcc with what appcars at lit'sl tu bc a c_\nical pcrspccti\'c. but as hc puts it: '(‘itics bccumc murc iIIIpurtant than statcs thcrc is no glubal culturc to unit} thc tliscuursc til at bicnnial. 'l‘hc hraVcst thing an} cit) cuultl tlu culturall} is nut tu haxc unc.’ \Vilsun tlisagrccs. sa_\ing: "l‘his show was rcally a rcspunsc to an itlca. nut thc lact it was a bicnnalc pcr sc. 'l‘hc tact that [gun arc hclping support it l‘inancially hclpctl cunsitlcrabl}. 'l‘hc l._\un Bicnnalc cttraturial tcam havc hccn \cr} lIantls-ul‘l' with thc 'l‘ramwa)‘ shuw. un|_\‘ ‘l'i—‘f—‘L‘sliilg that .>\ttia antl \crschaci'c bc incltitlctl in thc c\liibitiuu.'
Rub lx'cnnctl). unc ul thc c\hibiting artists. is lihilusuhhical abuut what hc calls 'bicnnalc mania’. sa}ing: ‘liicnnalcs usuall} ha\c thcir lair sharc ul- batl wurk. .'\s tar as I can gathcr. thc rclatiunship bctwccn thc c\hibitiun and thc Bicnnalc sccms quitc tcnuuus. lt‘s murc L‘till\ll‘tlL‘ll\‘C tu kccp thc parcnt tl._\unl at arm's lcngth su thc c\hibitiun can c\ist on its uwn tcrms.’
Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 21 Oct-Sun 20 Nov
Ilil
THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
if. h ll {'1‘ '/‘ l ‘ My: II . ‘ l I I : 1.‘ . I f” .. y i/l ti» ",3 mm, 'nh) /'/ t z (i,
* Jane Topping They Are the We of Me, comprises drawings. paintings and sculptural elements that demonstrate how a difficult gallery space can be successfully utilised by a quietly confident artist. Invisible mourntul associations between poignant objects and absent people resonate, build and disperse in the mind of the viewer. GoMA , Glasgow, until Sun 20 Nov. LAST CHANCE TO SEE.
=1: David Claerbout The Belgian-based video installation artist examines ideas of time and the media that record and hold it up for our inspection. Photographs are reanimated and expectations halted. See review. page 93. BOA, Dundee, until Sat 3 Dec.
=1: Alan Michael’s History of Birth Control This Sorcha Dallas show brings together European geometric abstraction and American text-based work. creating something new and evasive in oil paint, canvas and paper. Latinate references are overlaid and emptied out in the paintings. See review, page 93. Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, until Sat 5 Nov.
* This is Not the Glasgow School of Art In a simple expression of serious wit, Jim Hamlyn re-Iabels and re- designates private and public rooms on architectural plans of the Glasgow School of Art, as part of the Out in the Open exhibition in the School’s Mackintosh Gallery. Alternative tours of the school will be conducted on at 1 7 am, Sat 22 Oct, but contact the gallery invigi/ator as places are limited. =i¢ In Between Times Tln conjunction with this years Lyon Biennale, five artists explore temporality and the mechanisms that organise it. New works fill the gallery's main exhibition space. See preview, page 92. Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 21 Oct-Sun 20 Nov