Visual Art
REVIEW GROUP SHOW MUST I PAINT YOU A PICTURE? Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, until Fri 16 Jul ●●●●●
A members group show is typically a disparate affair. The annual Transmission exhibition, where members are given the opportunity to include a work of any size or medium, is a true Salon-style exposé, covering the walls from top to bottom and spilling over to the gallery downstairs. The range of contributions come from students, more established artists and the current committee members, and includes drawings, sculptures, video works, and paintings, as well as a performance on the opening night. Usually a mish mash, this year the show looks particularly handsome in the new sleek gallery in Trongate 103.
The large-scale nature of this showcasing often
prompts artists to include smaller, less attention seeking works, and experimental pieces are discreetly placed alongside signature works such as Michael Stumpf’s miniature talisman, Ciara Phillips’ textural screenprint and Conor Kelly’s quasi-historical narrative oil painting.
collage. In what seems to be a tribute to Zurich Dadaist, Hugo Ball, ‘Ba-Umf’ is a striking graphite drawing by Christian Newby. Nearby, Stuart Gurden presents ‘Blocks in Triplicate pts 1 & 2’, which includes a list of itemised ‘blocks to creativity’. The paper’s creased, dirty and worn out appearance reveals a continued interaction with it, perhaps carried in someone’s back pocket and used as a mantra.
Downstairs, hidden in a corner, is a piece by Shelly
Nadashi entitled ‘Put us in a composition on a wall, quick, the teapots whispered in my ear’. Three halved old-fashioned black teapots are stacked below, and three different teapot handles displayed above. Animating the inanimate is a recurrent thread through Nadashi’s practice, but where she is known for her performance work, here the performative element reveals itself in the broken objects. Hinged between the title and the object, hangs a narrative that paints the picture of where and how they might have been pieced together by the protagonist in an anachronistic conjuring of a witch’s kitchen, magic and folklore. This eclectic collection means quality is inconsistent,
Freshly graduated from The Glasgow School of Art, newcomer Tawny Kerr presents a framed archival
but is bound to offer something for everyone. (Talitha Kotzé)
REVIEW SCULPTURE MARK HANDFORTH The Modern Institute, Glasgow, until Sat 24 Jul ●●●●●
A neon work hangs on the exterior of the gallery like a signpost to an underground poker venue. The piece, entitled ‘Weeping Moon’, sketches the outline of a half moon in pink and blue neon lights with tears rolling down its brick-faced cheek. This inconspicuous motif sets the stage for what is to be found inside. Miami-based Mark Handforth has
created four new big, bold sculptural pieces positioned against each of the gallery walls. Masculine in their materiality and application, the works play on the four suits in a deck of cards: ‘The Club’ is a large three cubic metre balls-of-steel sculpture; contrasting this rigid material, ‘The Spade’ is made of black felt collapsing in on itself; ‘Diamonds’ consists of a fluorescent scattering of lights and fixtures – resembling a set of cards being shuffled; and lastly, a more subtle piece called ‘Bleeding Heart’, is screen printed graffiti-style directly onto the wall, complete with pixilated marks and bleeds.
Handforth states that his intention is to allow objects to collapse, so that through their destruction they are transformed, but his sculptures are merely reinstating familiar symbols by amplifying their shapes. His objects are weighed down by this familiarity, but they lack the intrigue and playfulness that these icons represent. Instead of what was suggested by the piece on the wall outside, this turns out to be a very clinical presentation of predictable play. The works are striking at first, but they leave you feeling a little bit empty and unmoved. (Talitha Kotzé)
REVIEW PAINTING DUTCH LANDSCAPES Queen’s Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 9 Jan ●●●●●
The cool, spacious interior of the Queen’s Gallery is an apt accompaniment to the moody tones and airy landscapes of these Dutch masters of the art of landscape painting. The exhibition brings together 42 works from painters including Jacob van Ruisdael and Paulus Potter that are representative of the Dutch Republic’s main artistic centres during the 17th century.
Amidst the balanced compositions depicting everyday life, such as peasants interacting with nobles or fleets of boats setting sail, lie subtle nuances of romanticism and humour. Adriaen van de Velde’s ‘A Hunting Party Setting Out’ captures an almost fairytale sense of dress and way of life in his scene of nobles on horseback that stands in sharp contrast to Potter’s anatomically correct animals with human-like expressions, ‘A Young Bull and Two Cows in a Meadow’.
Many of the artists collected here show an incredibly fine attention to detail, perhaps best exemplified by Willem van de Velde the Younger’s ship scenes with carefully painted rigging. Many of the Dutch Landscape painters also reference Italy in their scenes – whether this is based on actual or imaginary visits – and these pieces contrast nicely with the dunes and plains of the Dutch Republic. A welcome opportunity to learn more about this era while enjoying some fine examples of landscapes in oils. (Miriam Sturdee)
90 THE LIST 8–22 Jul 2010