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REVIEW PENCIL DRAWINGS EDWYN COLLINS: WILDLIFE 1 Intermedia Gallery, CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 9 May 00.
Pop star Edwyn Collins' life-threatening stroke has been well documented. This project, which deliberates obsessively on his relationship with the subject matter — animals and birds - is a metaphorical ‘safari’ illustrating his return to health. The drawings themselves are skilfully made which belies the difficulties associated with re-learning to draw after such a destructive illness and echo back to Collins' time as a draftsman and to his upbringing as the son of a fine art lecturer.
The drawings also represent Collins' desire to revise and update the prints of Archibald Thorburn in Lord Lilford‘s Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles, first published in the late 19th century, which Collins imitates with simplicity and respect. The majority of the works are straightforward renditions, little exercises in seeing and recording, a daily routine to retrain eye, hand and mind, and demonstrate, through his tenacity, the complexity of physical movement which the majority of us take for granted. There are touches of humour, in his drawing of a penguin, of sensitivity in his collection of British birds, and more painful depictions of the animal kingdom as in his drawing of an octopus eating a dogfish. These ruminations on pain, humour and cruelty are ultimately the sensibilities Collins wishes to portray in coping with his sudden ill-health.
The difficulty this show faces is its venue, which normally houses more experimental projects, and its self-reflective, illustrative, traditional approach seems awkward in a space used to more emergent practices. In the end, though, the audience will find compassion in these images for a man, celebrity aside, who has gone from the brink to recovery through a combination of perseverance and determination. (Alex Hetherington)
REVIE‘V‘J 383706;};an BARBARA PROBST
Stills, Edinburgh, until Sun 19 Jul .0.
German artist Barbara Probst's photographic work ‘Fxposure u-tt, Munich. Mineryiusstr'ale I 1. (ll .06 (If. (M .‘prn'. images a double portrait of a model. In the first photograph the girl looks directly into the lens. and in the second her face. carrying the exact expression. rs seen from a slightly shifted angle. lts effect is similar to when you look at a face at close range, close each eye alternately and watch the face gently ping-pong from side to srde. The work appears to replicate an almost childlike fascination with the processes of seeing. This is achieved through the use of radio- controlled cameras and synchronised cable releases. allowing the artist to photograph the same instant from varying angles and (Instances. While Probst uses this technique to differing tonal ends, her Interest in dismantling notions of photographic ‘doCument' is a constant.
Probst also exhibits works that illustrate their own processes. Less successful than the seemingly source less photographs. these latter groups alienate by way of making clear their machinery: a model rs enclosed by a ring of lenses. a group of Gap advert— types get snappy in Central Park and cameras face cameras face cameras. But the artist's play With forced (JISTUDTIOTTS to photographic ‘truth‘ is a little obvrous. The simplest works remain the most interesting, affecting a niggltng recognition that cleverly belies their mechanical conception.
IRosalie Douball
REVIEW INSTALLATION
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MICHAEL WILKINSON: LIONS AFTER SLUMBER Modern Institute. Glasgow, until Sat 23 May 000
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Reflecting the importance of the process and exposing the raw economics of his cultural exchange. an accorripanying text gives recognition to the people. places and histories from which rrieaning was derived and materials obtained: i'or. London boutique store Seditionaries. eBay. Stockline Plastics, Prince anrl Prrncess of Wales Hospice, Susan Wilkinson. the Red Army faction and a tree on the lle de la Cite in Parts The cost of each piece is neatly iterriised. revealing both the skeleton and the flesh of an artistic political economy ITalitha Kotxe,
PHIL COLLINS: THE WORLD WON’T LISTEN Tramway, Glasgow, until Sun 31 May 0000.
This is one of those rare exhibitions where a verbal articulatron cannot do justice to the work on display. The three-part Video Installation ‘The World Won't listen, filmed in Colombia. Turkey and IndoneSia features fans of the band The Striltllf, performing karaoke versions of tracks from the 1987 album of the same name. The result is a pOignant work of art which trumps all expectations. Profoundly movrng at times. yet cringeworthy at others. this emotionally charged masterpiece preCIpitates a mixture of goose bumps. pathos and beguilernent. The track which WI” have yOu in tears With its raw sentiment is a version of ‘Asleep' performed by a man in Colombia — The Smiths' seductive music acts as a precursor to his performance, and eventually to the novel representation of Its
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The exhibitron also showcases a series of large-scale screenprinted letters that the yOung Morrissey wrote to the London mUSIC weeklies in the late 70s. prarsing the proto-punk band New York Dolls; a set of defaced Britney Spears posters which Collins photographed in the New York subway: a frightening neurotic laughing contest which was filmed in Helensburgh; and the Baghdad screentests which he recorded during the run up to the war in Iraq.
With the current popularity of reality TV — Scottish hopeful Susan Boyle's performance on Britain's Got Talent is the latest manifestation — the real accomplishment of the show lies in Collins' ability to employ art to portray this lived reality and reflect on it at the same time. (Talitha Kotze')
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