Monday, September 23, 2013

Review: Summer Exhibitions

Couples
August 2013 Ventenac, France

This exhibition consisted of six short films showing simultaneously in a beautiful old, empty wine cellar. The nature of ‘romantic’ relationships was the central theme to all the films.


It so happened that on the day I went, with my reluctant boyfriend, relations between he and I were pretty strained, so much so that the pertinence of the violence in Marina Abramović and Ulay’s films made me laugh in recognition, especially the slapping sequence; ‘Slap! Wince. Slap! Wince....two people locked in a repetitive pattern of spite and retaliation. In the bow and arrow sequence the gradually building strain in Abramović’s whole body is evident as she keeps the bow wielding the arrow which is pointed at her heart taut. Ironically without her pull on the bow the arrow would have no force behind it. I should point out here that my boyfriend and I have never slapped each other and are happily over our blip. He didn’t find any of the films remotely amusing.




Marina Abramović’s performance piece ‘The Artist is Present’ is cited by Kelly Grovier in this Sunday Times Culture supplement article   as being one of a ‘hundred contemporary art masterpieces which will still be remembered and discussed centuries from now’. I defy anyone to watch without emotion this clip in which she and Ulay are reunited after 30 years without contact; it makes me cry every time.

Clap
August 2013 Paraza, France 


The two artists in residence, Sofu and Rémi Magnouat, had a month to create two exhibitions called ‘Over the Trees’ addressing the theme of the dying Plane trees which line the Canal du Midi, on the bank of which the gallery sits.

I loved Sofu’s ceramic installations made up of small components chained together which are a metaphor for the connected parts of a whole, be it an individual life, the lives of many or a territory.




This ‘united division’ is also illustrated in this installation of hanging coloured strands which look like a tree trunk.


Upstairs there was a room full of small sculptures of the human form in various poses and groups which inspired in me a feeling of good humoured fascination probably becuase of their small size and appearance of patient observion, like little white human meerkats.




It was also very interesting  and inspiring to see the work displayed withing the studio space, to see the materials lying about, the trials and ‘workings out’.


I wasn’t so keen on these painted aluminium characters ‘in the flesh’; they seemed brash and rough after the serenity of the ceramic pieces, but seeing them later in my photographs I enjoyed them more.




Shop window paintings
August 2013 Carcassonne, France





I was a bit divided by these works of street art by Mohamed Lekleti  that I saw painted on shop windows in Carcassonne; when I saw the first one my interest was piqued but on closer inspection I thought it missed the mark slightly in terms of colour and proportion, however my admiration grew as I saw more and more, probably because the style was consistent (something I think my work lacks), the ground was ingenious and the amount of work involved in the project must have been huge. I was also envious; I’d love the opportunity and audacity to do something like this.

Museum of Art and History
August 2013 Narbonne, France
The number of art works in here was huge, they seemed a bit jumbled and some were poorly lit but it was very enjoyable. Here are a few of my favourites:




Winter Garden by Stephen Marsden, is an installation of six 17th century style busts with their heads replaced by roses, lit with different coloured lights and standing on a lawn of herbs. These looked like giant chess pieces and it was shame not to be able to see them from closer quarters as they appeared to lack emotion from a distance, I also felt that it was really just one piece multiplied as the only difference between them was the colour of the light directed upon them.

The detail in these 17th century paintings was astounding:
Portrait of a Woman by Elias Pickenoy



Portrait of a Woman by Jan Anthonisz van Ravesteyn




And this 15th century religious painting by Neri di Bicci looks remarkably modern




 The sheen on the dress in this unlabeled painting is mesmerizing


And this 18th century portrait of a beggar by Gaspare Traversi is a marvel of suffering and perspective


You can feel the dry heat in Max Moreau’s 1936 oil painting of a water seller







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