Pastures
Claire Barclay talks to Neil Cooper about the importance of space and environment as she unveils a major solo exhibition of new and existing work
laire Barclay is safe inside the glass-fronted confines of Iidinburgh’s I’ruitmarket (iallery putting the final touches to her new show. ()pr'nwidv. on the day we speak. (liven the gallery's smooth interiors. it‘s a knowingly apposite title for two large-scale works which are either being built in situ in the I’ruitmarket's upstairs gallery. or else combine bits and bobs from Barclay”s decade-long back catalogue in the downstairs space. ‘Iiverything‘s kind of inspired by what‘s gone before.. Barclay says on taking time out after spending the
morning collecting straw bales which will form part of
()pr'ini'i'dc's upstairs installation of the same name. 'So I suppose the work partly has a kind of retrospective feel. I don't think I‘ve shown work in that way before. In my mind all these works are related. but it‘s interesting as well. because they were all originally developed for a specific space. So that means that they‘ll be separated off from the original context in
which they were shown. and it‘ll be interesting to see if
they stand up or not. and what new relationships they forge with everything that’s around them. It is a test in a way. and it should be an interesting experience.‘
If such an approach suggests a continuum of inter- connected work. the show's title also hints at something. if not autobiographical. then certainly very personal. Using the gallery as a studio too
creates a particular and quite self-protective set of
physical circumstances.
‘Sometimes the change of space will be overwhelming.~ Barclay admits. ‘and you have to work within that in a theatrical kind of way — more so
86 THE LIST 5— 19 Feb 2009
‘SOMETIMES THE CHANGE OF SPACE WILL BE OVERWHELMING'
‘Shifling Ground’
HEW
than you do in neutral spaces. You have to negotiate your way around. which you can never do in a studio. because there isn't the space. And if you are working in a studio environment. you don‘t experience the work until it‘s in the gallery. By working in the gallery. I can exploit it and accentuate it.
‘There are different layers.’ she adds. "I‘here's the outer skin of the gallery. then the inner skin of the work itself. Beyond that. you can go into the work itself and look into all the small details. though it‘s not some kind of architectural intervention.‘
Since representing Scotland in the 2003 Venice Biennale. Barclay has developed pieces that counterpoint the organic with the manufactured. hence the bales of straw in ()[7(’llll'f(l(’.
‘l’m always trying to create environments which have a number of different reference points.‘ she says. ‘I‘d much rather they suggested things rather than relate to anything specific. because people are always going to bring their own emotional baggage to a show. and interpret it how they want. So I do use a kind of sculptural language. The straw bales. for instance. might tick all the emotional boxes about thinking green or whatever. but there's a contradiction there as well with something that‘s cold and constructed. I don't work with any kind of literal
meanings for things. When I feel things are becoming too specific. I always try to bring in a new reference. just to make it more ambiguous.’
Claire Barclay: Openwide, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 7 Feb-Sun 12 Apr.
THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
zl: Donna Wilson: Escape to the Woods Scots textile designer Donna Wilson's dolls and purposely sickly-hued furniture inhabit their own strange world of cartoonish archetypes. The cast includes Canibdoll, who is “always hungry' and Rudie Raccoon among others. See review. page 87. The Lighthouse, Glasgow, until Sun 1 Mar.
alt Jonathan Owen Sculptor Owen's second solo show at Doggerfisher explores the artist's post-suburban pre- occupations on a grand scale, presenting and subverting the articles of suburban life in what he calls “acts of careful vandalism'. See preview. page 87. Doggerfisher, Edinburgh, Fri 6 Feb—Sat 28 Mar.
=l< Claire Barclay Scottish sculptor Barclay’s Openwide is a major solo exhibition of new and existing work See preview. left. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 7 Feb—Sun 12 Apr.
* National Review of Live Art The NRLA returns to its original home at the Arches with five days of experimental live art from internationally renowned practitioners such as Franko 8, Dominic Johnson and Raimund Hoghe. See Big Picture, page 9 and preview in Theatre, page 81. The Arches, Glasgow, Wed 11-Sun 15 Feb. It Desire Lines Talbot Rice may be closing its doors for a while due to refurbishment. but the gallery has invited a selection of artists to create work for display across Edinburgh University's campus. including Miranda Blennerhassett, Alec Finlay, Iain Kettles, Chad McCall and Ellen Munro. See caption in listings. Edinburgh University Campus, Sat 14 Feb—Sat 20 Jun.