Visual Art
RICHARDSON'S WORK IS ETERNALLY FASCINATING
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Touching the old
Claire Mitchell visits Frances Richardson’s new sculpture installation at the Corn Exchange Gallery and finds the void at the centre of the work threatenineg empty
here‘s something about the term ‘the void' that
grates ever so slightly. The mention of it
conjures tip. at best. the Jungian notion that we humans are empty vessels into which experience is poured. The term is so overused that when you meet it in the introduction to a piece of art. you can‘t help btit feel sceptical. Its appearance in a text panel at the entrance to lirances Richardson's llllt'l'IIlM‘ at Leith's (‘orn Iixchange (iallery should not. however. deter you from carrying on into the show.
For Richardson's first ever solo show in Scotland. the artist has created a series of sculptures based on an Italian painting by Neri di Bicci. entitled ‘Archangel Raphael Saving an Attempted Suicide'. a tiny predella panel. similar to those Richardson saw. and was entranced by. on a recent trip to Italy. The original ISth century work is a glorious analogy to exalted redemption. a theme that echoes through Richardson‘s own sculptures.
By using materials that are rarely if ever used by
sculptural line artists — in this case a truckload of
medium density libreboard (or MDF for those of us who grew up watching home improvement shows). — Richardson draws attention to our endless appetite for consumer goods. By highlighting this. perhaps Richardson — not unlike the Archangel Raphael — is attempting to save us from our own insatiable greed. Richardson's pieces are precisely executed. colourless maquettes which form a modern day take on a medieval narrative for us to weave in and out of.
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We experience a real sense of walking through the painting itself. There‘s an added clever irony to the fact that a piece of art which confronts us with the perils of consumerism is being shown in a space run by one of Iidinburgh‘s most elite design companies. whose everyday comings and goings regularly impact on the serenity of the piece.
Against masculine power-tool tnetictilousness. Richardson places soft hand-modelled clay shapes. This is perhaps a slightly hackneyed juxtaposition. but the fact that these shapes take the form of jagged home-made daggers riskin balanced on tables — and even more precariously on a joist above your head leads you to consider the notion of comfortable. easy safety against your own vigilance in the face of danger.
By forcing us to think about our surroundings. our superficial acceptance of ‘reality‘. and our place in the narrative. Richardson’s work becomes eternally fascinating. almost cleansing. Richardson's quote at the gallery entrance introduces this feeling: ‘The object thingness does not lie at all in the material world of which it consists. btit in the void that it holds. It is within this void that the sculptural image resides’. It's only once you have experienced the work that you will appreciate that you are actually that void. and that the story lurking beneath these objects is brought to life in your own imagination.
Frances Richardson: Internus, Corn Exchange Gallery, Edinburgh, until Thu 4 Oct 0000
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THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
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* Frances Richardson: lntsrnus Richardson’s sculptural installations present a vision of the emotional dereliction that lies beneath the surface of contemporary consumerist culture. lntemus draws on elements from a 15th century painting of The Archangel Raphael Saving an Attempted Suicide by Neri di Bicci. See review, left. Corn Exchange Gallery, Edinburgh, until Thu 4 Oct.
alt Picasso on Paper An exhibition of drawings. prints and illustrated books spanning the career of the 20th century's most important artist. Picasso's early work gave artists who followed him a route into pure abstraction. with his later surrealist-inspired works demonstrating a mastery of the human form and his inexhaustible artistic vision. Dean Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 23 Sep. 3|: David Batchelor: Unplugged Multicoloured. glowing plastic constructions fill the galleries at the Talbot Rice. Batchelor creates neo- pop installations that challenge our ‘chromophobia’. Concerned with ideas of urbanism and consumption. the artist and author has scoured the Pound Shops of East London to create a gaudy, Technicolor grotto. Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, until Sat 29 Sep. it David Rokoby: Silicon Bombers Carbon The Canadian-Dom installation artist brings a collection of interactive works together to create his first major Scottish show and retrospective at the CCA Work on show includes the pioneering sound installation ‘Very Nervous System’. and his exploration of CCTV and surveillance ‘Seen' and ‘Taken’. CCA, Glasgow. until Sat 15 Sep.