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VISUAL ART | Previews & Reviews
REVIEW GROUP SHOW SPIRIT LEVELS ●●●●● CCA, Glasgow, until Sun 7 Sep
Integrity and sincerity link all of the artist’s intentions within Spirit Levels, an exhibition of work by international artists Tony Cruz, Remy Jungerman and Adele Todd. Each artist explores line, form and abstraction, while raising differing questions on social realities and spirituality within both global and local contexts.
‘Police An Teif’ by Adele Todd is a collection of poignant
embroideries replicating disturbing scenes represented in the media in Trinidad and Tobago. Each one is uncomplicated in line and material, and remains delicate, despite the weight of the subject matter. Todd’s other works in the exhibition centre around language; slang words linked to women are sculpted with more ‘soft materials’ as the artist describes them, to create colourful word chains with dark undertones.
Remy Jungerman’s mixed media sculptures, wall pieces and screen prints conjure the aesthetic of western modernist art combined with Afro-Caribbean textile traditions. To highlight the Netherlands’ previous colonial ties to Suriname, Jungerman’s birthplace, the artist creates a tension of references to both the 1920s De Stijl movement, which frequently used bright blocks of primary colours, and to the explorations of geometric textile traditions that link to ritual and religion in Suriname.
Puerto Rican artist Tony Cruz continues the show’s exploration of line through drawing. Drawing underpins almost all elements of Cruz’s practice; he draws directly on to the wall, on various collected papers in ‘La Nube’ (the cloud) and it is an integral part of his animations. Five of Cruz’s animations are presented in this show, each one short and endearing, illustrating examples of Puerto Rican life such as baseball, smoking and salsa music. Cruz dispels the popular associations of drawing as preparation rather than a finished article and demonstrates, along with Jungerman and Todd, the power of simplicity. (Kirsty Neale)
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PREVIEW FILM NICK THOMAS Telfer Gallery, Glasgow, Sat 13–Sun 28 Sep
The missile testing range on South Uist built by the RAF in 1957 may have been privatised in 2001, but the fascination with what is regarded as the largest air and sea range in the UK goes on. Nick Thomas’ filmic portrait of Uist that makes up his show at the Telfer looks at the impact of the range on those who live, work and have grown up in its shadow which dominates a landscape where the ancient and modern rub up against each other.
‘There’s also a consideration of the Catholic
iconography of the area,’ the Glasgow-based artist explains, ‘and its historical role as public art, in the initial ideological conflict around the site.’
Thomas’ fascination with the site has seen him make other Uist-based work since graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 2012, though this is the most substantial piece to date, with much of its research techniques learned while Thomas worked on the moving image archive of pioneering Sauchiehall Street arts lab, the Third Eye Centre. Thomas’ Uist project moves his processes up a notch.
‘It’s an attempt,’ he says, ‘to look at how
technological change, religion, landscape and politics might interact with each other in a particular historical moment, or moments.’ (Neil Cooper)
90 THE LIST 21 Aug–18 Sep 2014
REVIEW GROUP SHOW ART ROOMS Cockenzie House, Cockenzie, until Sun 28 Sep ●●●●●
Set in the 17th-century Cockenzie House, 30 minutes out of Edinburgh, the Black Cube Collective’s Art Rooms offers a less orthodox encounter with contemporary art. As well as an exhibition, with artists displaying work throughout the house and garden, events and artist residencies will unfold over seven weeks. Though more is to come, the exhibition is a
promising start: despite containing a diverse group of artists, the show comes together remarkably well. Sculptures scattered in the garden space filter in to the building, where artwork creeps up the stairs and stretches through the rooms and hallways. Alan Brown’s ‘Ringer’ provides a near-constant sonic accompaniment, lending the experience a treasure-hunt feel while wandering through the house. Inside, exquisite laser cuts intersect with bold wooden sculptures, videos with static works, and crisp photographs with tactile displays. And despite the artworks focusing on topics as dissimilar as witch trials, World War I and dog walking, each engrosses equally. Contemporary art and a country house may sound like an uneasy fit, yet Art Rooms has proven otherwise with this coherent exposition of upcoming talent. (Jennifer Owen)
PREVIEW PERFORMANCE CHARLOTTE PRODGER: MICROSPHAERIC HOWARD HUGHES HEAVEN MOVIE Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 19 Sep
Artist and DJ Charlotte Prodger uses elements of her previous video installations and writing work for this one-off live performance produced in partnership with LUX Scotland and forming part of GENERATION. Taking information from different sources including emails, internet forums, anecdotes and music from her DJ residency at Nice’N’Sleazy, Prodger’s work explores speech and other ways in which we represent ourselves. Prodger narrates much of her work, using
redundant technologies such as analogue formats, Hantarex monitors, projectors and boomboxes to explore the relationship between language and material. Chloe Josse, exhibition organiser at Tramway, said that for microsphaeric howard hughes heaven movie, Prodger would use material including 16mm film, audio tape and YouTube videos. Prodger, who has exhibited at the past two Glasgow International festivals and will have a solo show at Inverleith House in Edinburgh next year, won this year's Margaret Tait Award, and will present her resulting work at Glasgow Film Festival next year. (Rhona Taylor)