Visual Art ‘
www.list.co.uk/visualart
‘l'M STILL LOOKING FOR AN ACT OF EXPERIENCE'
Outside interests
Kate Davis returns to Sorcha Dallas with a show that, as Dave Pollock discovers, will keep the audience firmly in its place
his is the first time that New Zealand-born. Glasgow-educated artist Kate Davis has returned for a second exhibition within the same gallery space. and she‘s eager that her latest show takes advantage of the fact. Where the original show with Sorcha Dallas. 2004‘s Participant. sought
to include the viewer within the work itself. ()Ill.\‘i(/(‘I'
is designed to turn them into passive observers. ‘()ften. I like to create a response to a space and a context.‘ says Davis. ‘I also like to respond to works from throughout the history of art. so I was glad that this gave me a chance to at last reply to my own body of work. When I was here four years ago. I presented a large stage in the centre of the gallery which created quite an awkward space to walk round and
View the works. So the invitation was that the viewer
would stand on the stage to look at the objects I had placed on another similar plinth. The idea was that they would then become an object themselves. because I‘m very interested in the idea that the
viewer‘s relationship with the work is an act of
expefiencef
The stage is back in this show. but Davis says she has foregone what she calls the ‘beckoning hand‘ approach of Participant. ‘l‘m still looking for an act of experience.‘ she says. ‘but I don‘t want to entice the viewer in. l want to make it quite tough. So part of the stage stands on end like a wall. like a barrier. and the other part juts out from the actual wall.”
lt‘s not only the stage which excludes the viewer
56 THE LIST 21 Aug-4 Sop 2008
from the show here. or at least presents an obstacle to their engagement. liven the press release. which was sent out to accompany the show. was written as a letter from Davis to the gallery's curator. Sorcha Dallas. This isn‘t a public piece of work. but it mirrors the overall theme of the show — that the viewer. again. is not a participant in the typed conversation. but an outsider looking in.
Davis engages not just with her own past work here. but also with the hyperrealist paintings of Swiss artist liran/ (iertsch. Across four pencil drawings. she has duplicated some of (iertsch‘s paintings. which are in turn duplicated from photorealist images. (iet'tsch talks of liberating himself from emotionalism. as Davis points out. and she has placed his portraits in among her own settings. For instance. one picture lies by a car tyre. and we can also see Davis‘ foot in the drawing. In this manner. she seeks to appropriate these images and infuse them with emotion once more.
And there’s one final exclusion for the outsider participant in this show. Across the centre of these four (iertsch drawings runs a few words of text. which are back to front and shown in reverse order: ‘I want everything I make to reflect my whole life‘ (a quote from the artist and dancer Yvonne Rainer). "l‘hat’s not a statement for the audience.‘ says Davis. ‘as much as it is a question to myself.‘
Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, Sat 23 Aug-Sat 27 Sep.
LIST
THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
ll: Wretched Stars, Insatiable Heaven Steven Campbell had planned this exhibition in two locations, and its title, before his sudden death last year. The resulting exhibition is a testament to the lasting, reaching influence of one of Glasgow — and the whole country's — most important artists. Glasgow Print Studio, Sat 76 Aug—Sun 28 Sep; Mackintosh Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, Sat 76 Aug—Sat 17 Oct.
It: Kate Davis: Outsider Davis’ second show at Sorcha Dallas attempts to undermine and interrogate the position of the audience. See preview, left. Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow, Sat 23 Aug-Sat 27 Sep.
ii: Alt-w: New Directions in Scottish Digital Culture Hugely comprehensive group show featuring the best of Scottish digital art. Features work by Torsten Lauschmann, Simon Yuill and Nicky Bird, amongst many others. See caption, page 57. CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 73 Sep.
it Now Showing Touring exhibition of new project film art works recently acquired by the Arts Council of England, organised by London’s Southbank Centre. A great chance to experience the work of emergent and established artists like Mark Noulos. Luke Fowler, ldris Kahn, Rosalind Nashashibi, Mark Lewis and Otolith Group. Tolbooth, Stirling, until Sat 6 Sep.
:l: Garlands/Mineral Park Alex Hetherington and Janie Nicoll finish off their year as Callendar Park’s artists-in— residence, with a joint show that looks at memory, the local community and language. And yes, they did nick the title of the shop from local 803 indie legends The Cocteau Twins. The Park Gallery, Fa/kirk, until Mon 8 Sep.