.‘s(;lll l’lllltf' lNSlAll A'll()N KARLA BLACK Mary Mary, Glasgow, until Fri 19 May .00.
Another artist run space ascends to fullyrfledged commercial status as Many Mary opens its new gallery doors. presenting an exhibition of work hy Karla Black. Black's work now more confidently takes on the eiwironment around it. hut remains stroneg centered on sculptural concerns rather than opting for seemingly expansive installation practices that orin manage to reify the gallery.
l’he first piece the vrewm experiences acts like a temporary hari'ier. a wall that attempts to hlock your entrance into the space. In walking past and around this almost sculpture the Viewer is slowly pulled closer. examining the small drips. marks and rips that sully the surface and draw you in. A smaller Hesse—like piece hangs from the ceiling on tWIsted strings: a cloud. a muddled proposition that Will eventually hzt the floor due to its inelegant weight. This is an attempt to understand negative space. the inside and the outside of an object. and almost succeeds.
Antiar't tendencies always have to he kept in check or uronrcallyl the art ohiect hecomes too hermetically sealed. too alien in its everydayness for the \.'l(}\‘.'(}l to engage wrth it. But this balancing act is successfully achieved in the final floor piece that fills the larger gallery space. A lunar landscape becomes a picture plane, a metaphysical Virginal surface covered in plaster powder. and the flotsam and ietsam that nihhles at the edges of the 'female' body — lipstick. nail polish etc: this hody in extremis is dust and rubbish. «Alexander Kennedy)
Visual Art
Beck’s FurunEs‘éoos L‘IC‘E CREAM REVOLUTION CCA Offsite. 73 Trongate. Glasgow until Sun 14 May 000
This year, the Beck‘s Futures has changed its ways. Firstly. the public has been invited to vote for its favourite artist alongside the usual panel of judges. Second. rather than mounting a touring show as in previous years. there are three near- simultaneous exhibitions in London. Bristol and Glasgow. Granting the public a voice in the selection of the awards recipient may be a good thing. but the triple-whammy of shows might not: on the evidence of the Glasgow exhibit. the 13 nominated artists are spreading themselves a little thinly. That said. there‘s good stuff here. much of it leaning toward research. collection and presentation - archival art. it you like.
Simon Popper's ‘Facades’ is a systematic survey of every foreign embassy in London. their frontages coolly displayed in a grid of photographs. part travelogue. part oblique political comment. while Matt Stokes has collated a wealth of information on ‘cave raves‘ showing flyers. posters. newspaper clippings and blurry snapshots. These are twinned with a silent stack of speakers and a tarpaulin printed with a promoters‘ reminiscences.
Jamie Sholvin surveys the covers of books published in the Fontana Classics series. presenting a complex infographic that collates data points — the length of time between an author's death and his publication. for instance — a collection of 48 books, and Sholvin's dripping paintings of their covers.
Among the other standouts. Glasgow-based Sue Tompkins‘ work occupies a space between poetry. song and drawing, with gnomic phrases typed onto folded paper. Seb Patane, meanwhile, shows an impenetrable video, featuring two chaps in Tyrolean attire, engaged in a slow-mo dance. one falling to the floor. This leg of Beck's Futures 2006 gives away enough to keep the audience interested. yet one can't help but feel that something is missing. (Jack Mottram)
FIONA JARDINE, WILL DANIELS Transmission Gallery. Glasgow. until Sat 13 May 000.
Apri/is the Care/rest Iii/tit priory togettwrr t , i ti; i a - : .z' Fiona .Jaidine ‘.'.’|It‘- l oiidon lxlwfll rain?“ \.'.~ artifice. ‘.‘.'ltlt religious and l‘iiih art 'i:fi,-.w,-r mi: '~:".’-': 1 ' (a: :' I: ,2' : and something suhtlei than :rcn,: aitntix
Amongst the liorntiatztii, eye i {1T’,ll‘:" ti'a‘ ',i,:'-- "ii: : fir: ~ '» ’lllllll‘él Glatéflor.» litteinatsimii " ii. tn: ,w' irii‘." : ‘i: i: ;.r-‘. "' 2+" show amongst sho.'.' Keetvlr‘xi rail m' to t" «i z formal seriousness 7 ask flu.» (Lui ari’: "‘u' i, x ' ' , r .' " i-H-H " in“ yet monumental '.'.”J-f'r\y .'~’:i£lll‘ a sen .i: 2‘ #9.". i " -’-' ;' references.
Daniel's small paintings are tAeauhe': a if i: ,f . ". perfect .‘xr‘rks are liaise?! an fun. pain." itx, ’ ‘ '. ' .r: , ’ ‘
canvases. representat (ins dead—end of mere ar;i.rcpi'ia‘.ir,i‘ ii. insurer”; '."r- ’2:' t 0‘ eh " ~: .'-'-': prt‘)r‘,ess and gesture is t et'itwl i': .‘.”)."r‘, . a i" technique that. one com later use of Cezanne
The funereal portals )1. Jarrriite arr,- iiei’: to y:'."‘i-':r t' i, av 2', er. 3 3f duct tape. yet manage- to dominate the space. ix'rgi'i'; 1.2:" ' .a a'r: religious architecture together. Was it ever not F ear; 1, Open. and therefOre Symbolicail, open I nto infinit, la'dinr; '. 'i":.r;r',ex a“: contradictOrily arcane and contemporary. flimsy yer urisl'akeaije. firm i', 30M work. The month may be Cruel but the an :s gar/2. Afexarider Kerrie/t,
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} '»1:' " ‘.'I:. .2, ' THE LIST 95