Visual Art
www.list.co.uk/visualart
REVIEW MIA, :2 MEDIA
PAUL WUNDERLICH: PAINTINGS SCULPTURE AND wonKs on PAPER FROM SIX DECADES Compass Gallery, Glasgow, until Tue 28 Apr 000
Gallery: muse um- style srx— IIve of thrs Gr erman- born octogt errarran vrsual artist rs a
Comp; ss decade retrosper ,
vorce from th( past. artrc ulatrng the development of style. technrgue and rrredrurrr across the last century and Into thrs. and Includes references to numerous art movements along the way: surrealrsrrr. abstract expressronrsrn superrealrsm and touc hrng on Impres slonrsm and th< HenI'IrssI'Inrte. all of whrch wrtnesses an agrtated but abundant desrre to make. create. draw. record. crte. The show rs packed wrth works: parntrngs. sculptures, etchrngs and prrnt edrtrons wrth Irttle regard given to chronology or context. whrch rs both frustratrng and appealrng. gl‘. mg a sense of an rnsatrable appetrte for creatrvrty.
Where Wurrderlrch comes undone In thrs creatrve propulsron rs hrs one- drmensronal representatron of women and femrnrnrh 2 all youth, naked. perfect and rrrrattarnable. Beautrfully painted they may be but they do suffer from an over .;rmplrfrcatron to hrs perspectrve on women. Wunderlrch has a mastery of technrgue. of mark- makrng whrch often lacks substance or rnsrght grven the historical and polrtrcal turmorl he has lrved through. Where hrs strengths do Ire are In hrs graphrc language and hrs mrstakes. traces of hrs experrmentatron. hrs senses of doubt and heSIIatron beyond hrs talents wrth parnt and Ink. The final Impressron of thrs worthwhile. plentrful show rs someone in love wrth art. nourrshed by the labour of makrng, whrch clearly works as he continues hrs prolrfrc endeaVOurs well rnto old age. (Alex Hetherrngton)
88 THE LIST 16-30 Apr 2009
REVIEWlItULTI-l/‘IEDlA‘vABI’ S BONELESS BOX
Embassy, Art's Complex. Edinburgh until Sun 26 Apr 0000
Namrrrg Iherr Inaugural show at thrs new gallery space after one of KFC's advertrsrng campargns. the curators of Bone/ess Box have opened Iherr doors to all that rs frnger lrckrn' and artrfrcral Thrngs start sweetly wrth Debjanr BanerJees < mrnrsc ule orrgamr and MDF sculpture Put Your Shoes Away'. Next. Crarg COuIIhard's 'Untrtled (Ongorng Prorectl' of crude parntrngs of world leaders has no place out8rde a srxth form art class and Shona Handley's locust In flagrante film ‘The Krss'. set to choral musrc. rs arch at best. Luckrly. Glasgow-based Dadarsts Beagles and Ramsey's '72 Blows to Babylon Babys Head 1995—2009 rs a mrnd-bogglrng scrap wall of A4 rnsurrectron. equal part adolescent dream and nrghtmare.
Moving from the anarchrc to the sublime. Sandy Chrrstre and Emrly Fogarty's downward sprral wrnd chrme 'Gun Tree' features fat fabrrc guns and clrps hanging from a whrte metal frame: who says craft can‘t krll’? Steve Ovetts photo montage film Away Tae Fuck' gives The Joy of Sex a welc ome pop art twrst Elsewhere theres splenty to make any art lover seek out thrs out-of-Ihe-way gallery. Katre Orton's 'Wartress' and Jonathan Hood's ‘Ginger Beer Mat' give conceptual lazrness a bad name. but on the whole thrs is a fine show. Best of all. Nerl Mulholland's fascmating newsprrnt collage ‘Nessun Trtulo (Brenvenuto)‘ and Kerth Farquhar's room dorninatrng IOur prece Verushka-rnspired 'Body Paintrng‘ gIve Boneless Box some grrstle and rump. (Paul Dale)
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TWO HORIZONS: WORKS FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF CHARLES ASPREY AND ALEXANDER SCHRODER (GROUP SHOW)
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Edinburgh. until Sun 19 Jul «m
While the National Gallery of Modern Art's Artist Rooms generates the hype, a smaller exhibition quietly sits upstairs awaiting discovery. Two Horizons consists of works from two private collections. those of Charles Asprey and Alexander Schroder. The pieces here sit together surprisingly well - there is no obvious indication of which collection each work has come from, save the gallery’s information leaflet - perhaps indicating a similarity of taste reflected by the friendship between these two men.
According to the National Galleries, ‘this exhibition showcases some of the most significant and up-and-coming names in contemporary art', and there is certainly some exciting and excellent work on display. Several pieces by Isa Genzken begin to indicate just how brilliant her work can be, and two wittily self-referential pieces by Marc Camille Chaimowicz are intriguing. Nearby, Kitty Kraus‘s sculpture ‘Untitled’, consisting of carefully balanced panes of glass, plays on the apparent precariousness of its construction - how exactly it is prevented from crashing to the floor? Andreas Slominski’s similarly untitled work leaves the viewer in another quandary: the gallery information tells us that a fine-looking bunch of bananas on the window sill have been injected with urine. Are we to believe him? Further light touches are provided by Lukas Duwenhogger's celebratory camp paintings.
Many of these names may be unknown to viewers, but some, such as lan Hamilton Finlay, whose little sculpture lends its title to the show, and Gillian Carnegie, winner of 2005's Turner Prize, will be more familiar. Viewers who generally dislike contemporary art may be surprised to spot a beautiful 17th century pen and ink drawing on one wall, sitting quite comfortably alongside the contemporary works.
This is a great show, but there should be some unease at the lack of acknowledgement of the issues raised by reliance upon the collections, and the tastes, of private collectors, particularly those with interests in commercial art ventures — concerns relevant to both this show and the Artist Rooms. But despite these misgivings, Two Horizons has undoubtedly given the National Galleries 3 shot in the arm. (Liz Shannon)
REVIEW MIXLD Ml [)lA STAGE FRIGHT CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 23 May .00
Stage Frrght rs a collI'IborI'Itron between CCA ar:d tl‘eatre nonrrrarr, Suspect Culture explorrng the nature of theatrrcalrty througt the .vr IF of l Irw; (/Illrrr', FeIICIty Croydon and Sharon Smrth Max Factor... J In In [J I J‘: Ind ltrcl Po.- IOSKAR‘I. Graham Eatough. Davrd Grerg, Patrrr.k l.tar,klrr ar IU Ir ltebellato
VISItors enter as If through the backstage of a theatre ”freemrrI/I tables. costumes. a shower. fresh flowers. A stageharrd opens enter the cafe stage left. Trees are suspended aboxe ,orI as for the next scene. or are we 22 the standrng people »- I:/{;(:’,t‘:’l This trrcksy propOSItron contrnues throughout the ' ho The 'Iallerre‘, encom. ' aha drfferent settings. complete wrth hand p rep 3 II. rd < et deroratrcn krrret'r Wu a drrectors diary. andI I wrbsr that fr r ds lrvr rr.torrr.atror frorrr the stock rmar’ret Of DanlCllXtIOT‘y Culture. Dan Rebellato has drrected an cage. Walk aroundl Ier rand she ll follo .'/ your (II I/e. Ie 2r mr r .r lo /2IrIr II'IrItnIr; your attentron. Exent tuall,. yOU are drawn I Iva, t2, the cam l.l"éIl‘:‘ due ar r,or.‘tre'rrer.‘t of Luke Collrns' reworkrng of the r ontrmersral rIo/QI Om}; Wee I’m; or,
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