Visual Art
www.Iist.co.uk/visualart
PREVIEW VIDEO INSTALLATION
NEW WORK SCOTLAND PROJECT 2008: LILA DE MAGALHAES
Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 27 Sep-Sat 20 Dec
Over the last nine years, autumn at the Collective has heralded an annual showcase for artists making their solo-show debuts under the wing of the gallery’s New Work Scotland Project. The first of three shows this year is by Lila de Magalhaes, whose performance-based video installations captured the imaginations of a judging panel, led by the Collective’s Kirsten Body, who helped sift through more than 200 applications.
‘Lila says she’s about tapping into people’s day-to-day playfulness,’ says Body. ‘Quite often there’s a domestic or office setting in her work, but there’s usually something unsettling and strange going on as well. There’s a certain crudeness in what Lila does. Her works are usually done with a hand-held camera and are full of jump-cuts. But it’s a deliberate strategy, and a lot of it is very subtle.’
To illustrate the quirks of De Magalhaes’ work, Body cites a work called ‘Rat,’ in which a woman dressed up as a tinfoil-clad rodent sits in a bath. In another, a woman holds court in an armchair wearing an upside-down lampshade on her head. De Magalhaes is currently making new work for her show in residence at London’s Studio Voltaire, which has also come on board with NWSP.
In the following two NWSP shows, Alex Dordoy will explore issues of masculinity via images of a Wild West chuck wagon, while a joint work by Alex Gross and Sandy Smith will take its impulse from an extended research visit to Texas and Utah. A publication will accompany shows with texts by Kelly Connor. This initiative is now a crucial component of NSWP, which has a strong record of picking up on emerging artists, including Katy Dove, Craig Coulthart and Neil Clements, who go on to even greater things. The award too is something of an accidental benchmark for current trends.
‘We’re always looking for some kind of individuality,’ says Body, ‘and work that may not immediately get supported elsewhere. In that way, NWSP is an important snap-shot of what’s going on now.’ (Neil Cooper)
REVIEW PHOTOGRAPHY KEITH INGHAM: URBAN ECHOES Collins Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Sep on
As the title implies. Urban Echoes focuses on representations of the city environment. An experienced photographer. Keith lngham has explored this well- worn theme through images taken both locally and internationally, using the established photographic genres of abstract and street photography.
Consisting mostly of digital prints, but also including a slide-show film accompanied by audio sounds of the city, and an installation featuring photographs of an abandoned take-away and a buzzing neon sign apparently taken from the shop, the exhibition features some strong image-making.
There are several outstanding abstract works here. including ‘Sale. Buchanan Street“. which manages to transform the exhausting bustle of an evening's sale shopping into an image consisting of gorgeous concentric swirls of neon and blurred movement. lngham betrays a talent for creating night-time images and makes vibrant use of the available light. The exhibition‘s mixture of small and large prints is sometimes a little perplexing (the large-scale prints can be too pixelated close up) but in this case. the large print does the image justice.
There are also some beautifully composed architectural shots of Glasgow and its surrounds. which dwell on the once fine, now abandoned buildings that can be found in many areas of the city. often depicted against a dramatic brooding sky. Examples of lngham's street photography can be a little hit and miss. but this is a very difficult type of photography to master. That said. occasional gems I such as ‘Near Beijing' are definitely worth a look. (Liz Shannon)
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REVIEW DRAWING AND SCULPTURE KATE DAVIS: OUTSIDER coo Sorcha Dallas Gallery, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Sep
As a reaction against her own previous work in this space — 2004's Participant. which invited the audience to place themselves within the art — Kate Davis' latest is a complete volte face. Outsiders intention is to isolate the work. to make it stand apart from its audience.
‘I want everything I make to reflect my whole life.‘ runs the quote from artist Yvonne Rainer which Davis has reproduced. reversed and rearranged over four separate pencil drawings. Behind the text. the body of these pictures show appropriated pencil recreations of Franz Gertsch's photographs, each of which has been merged with an image seen from Davis‘ point of view. A torn 1 photograph lies on gravel between her foot and a car tyre, for example, while another seems to be resting on the artist 's lap as she sits in a lavatorial position. jeans around her ankles.
These are personal but slightly stagey pieces. and the dialogue with Gertsch's work does require a familiarity with the Swiss artist's aim of emotionless hyperrealism. The quote used also relates directly to two other pieces of self- portraiture — a segment of staging stood on end in each gallery and boxed in with glass. each partly stuffed with the artist ‘8 clothes. bedding and books. Yet investigating the enclosed titles closely throws up names such as Waugh. Lawrence and Kafka, each a staple of high school reading lists and a subtle suggestion that these well-thumbed old works reflect the part of Davis' life she is happiest to reveal, while keeping us outside of her current space. (David Pollock)
18 Sep—2 Oct 2008 THE LIST 95