VISUAL ART list.co.uk/visualart
HITLIST THE BEST EXHIBITIONS
✽ Heather Phillipson See review, left. Dundee Contemporary Arts,
until Sun 9 Nov.
✽ Nana Shiomi – Reverse: Universe For her first solo show in Scotland,
Japanese artist Nana Shiomi exhibits woodcut prints that reflect on the duality of east and west. See review, page 105. Edinburgh Printmakers, until Sat 1 Nov.
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HEATHER PHILLIPSON: SUB-FUSC LOVE-FEAST Ambitious and playful collection reconfi gures the natural world
P laying God appears to come easily to Heather Phillipson as the London-born poet, performer, sculptor and video artist gets back to nature by way of a jungle full of photographic cut-out dioramas and big-screen video cut-ups. As a whole, they suggest that the so-called natural world is not so much being tamed as remixed and reimagined.
Shown as part of the DCA’s Discovery Film Festival, Phillipson’s series of multi- dimensional configurations move from Eden to heaven, hell and other promised lands on Earth as assorted fruits of the original sin are blown up to juicily epic proportions. Wildlife, on the other hand, look shrunken and out of proportion, while upside-down human limbs offer something else to chew on as giraffes and pink flamingos graze.
On the flipside of what are, in fact, a set of artfully arranged wooden flats, the same swirly day-glo writing that provides animated captions to the films points up the film-set
104 THE LIST 16 Oct–13 Nov 2014
style fakery of such arrangements beneath the surface. On film, cows chew the cud, pants are pulled down and toes are potentially trodden on as Phillipson’s spoken-word accompaniment attempts to get back to a guilt-free garden. There, touching displays are actively and erotically encouraged beyond any jungle warnings once sent out by the likes of ‘The Veldt’, Ray Bradbury’s chillingly prophetic short story about the potential downsides of virtual culture.
Rather, Phillipson offers a playful and at times downright saucy evocation of a world of creature comforts that looks like it took considerably more than the ecclesiastical standard six days to set up. A seventh day’s rest for the wicked notwithstanding. (Neil Cooper)
Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sun 9 Nov ●●●●●
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✽ Jonathan Meese: Pump Up the
Vampire, Pump Up the Vampire, Pump Up the Vampire, Smell! Eccentric German artist Jonathan Meese presents ‘the total power of art’ through mixed media artworks created during a mini residency at the Glue Factory. See preview, page 105. Glue Factory, Glasgow, until Sun 2 Nov.
✽ Tessa Lynch: Café Concrete New works inspired by the urban environment
made during Lynch’s year-long graduate fellowship at Glasgow Sculpture Studios. See preview, page 108. Glasgow Sculpture Studios, until Sat 22 Nov.
✽ Thomas Joshua Cooper – Scattered Waters: Sources Streams Rivers
World-leading art photographer turns his lens on Scottish rivers for this exhibition, capturing the Forth, the Clyde, the Tweed, the Findhorn, even the Water of Leith. See preview, page 110. Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sat 29 November.
✽ Vanessa Billy: Sustain, Sustain Playful sculptural works that blend traditional artistic materials with found objects to create unlikely conversation pieces. See preview, page 105. Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 21 Dec.
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