Art Constellation

by Marianne Bevand

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A visit underneath the real world, in the basement of Blackwell's bookshop where, between shelves full with books, the story of a famous undead arises #dracula #CreationTheater pic.twitter.com/krYcFCLsq7— marianne bevand (@marianne_bevand) 3 mars 2018

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Welsh runner, Lowri Morgan, had already won the Arctic's ultramarathon before the end, but what she did was to complete it. #senseofachievement #pushtheboundaries #nevergiveupthefight #GoodnightStoriesForRebelGirls pic.twitter.com/sPlRDKpBwa— marianne bevand (@marianne_bevand) 3 mars 2018

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To meet more opportunities AI needs to be versatile, adaptive to many environments #OxAI #ingmarposner— marianne bevand (@marianne_bevand) 15 février 2018

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The language of AI, as any other languages, needs a context to have a meaning #OxAI #ingmarposner— marianne bevand (@marianne_bevand) 15 février 2018

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Vibrant artist Lubaina Himid at the Modern Art Museum, Oxford

This is impressive to see how Lubaina Himid opens the doors of imagination with her theatrical and colourful large scale artworks.

At the very beginning of the exhibition we are immediately carried away into other imaginary worlds.

The vivid colours create a joyful atmosphere, but taking a closer look at the artworks, we realise that the artist deals with hard topics: immigration (underlined by the recurring image of the sea), moments of crisis, slavery, fights for freedom, etc.

Lubaina Himid is also taking over objects, like newspapers’ sheets and plates, in a very powerful way: she partially covers them with her own colourful paintings, leaving, in the end, her contemporary imprint.

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“Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural” at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Amongst the wide range of artworks from the 12th Century to the 20th Century, I was expecting to dive straight away into the Supernatural, but I first came across science and astronomy related objects. And this made me realise a contradiction: despite their scientific knowledge, humans from this ancient time had developed beliefs in the Supernatural. They had been searching for meaning in their natural environment (how the astres could define personality traits) and in their cultural background (how words could provide guidance or protection). Strong observers of their environment, humans of that time took what was before their eyes to raise questions that show their concern about understanding one of the life’s great mysteries: what is the reason of our existence?

Relying on tiny physical elements, like sand, as well as on bigger and further elements, like planets, they have been trying to draw the lines of a possible answer.

But in their research we can see that the task is complex: there could be several answers, like multiple combinations of words, or there could also be changing answers, like the different moon’s cycles, or there could be unpredictable answers, like rolling the dice…

I thought to myself that the connection they made between environment and human beings was reassuring in a way, because it reminded that there is a natural explanation to our existence. However, suddenly coming back to my reality, I thought about our modern Western societies. We have lost this connection with our natural environment and we tend to live more and more in virtual realities of fast-paced changing and mobile societies, loosing valuable objects which are part of the transmission of our culture, family heritage, stories, etc.

Today was the last day of the exhibition “Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural” at the Ashmolean museum, and I wonder which could be a possible exhibition, in the future, about the 21st century. What would remain of us since we are loosing the Sacred, nature and valuable objects?

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Flat perspectives, at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Today, at the Ashmolean Museum, I was struck by the theatrical aspect of some Italian paintings made by Canaletto, Giovanni P. Panini, Francesco Guardi. 

Painting has historically been a question of creating perspectives, and playing with a constraint that forces the painter to create within the canvas' delimited space. Looking at some theatrical paintings, I realise how easy it is to forget the original frame of the painting, and I laugh at myself thinking that I am actually 

looking at a frame within a frame, a bit lost in the maze of perspectives. Standing in front of the Italian paintings, I have the impression, though, that the image is quite flat: F. Gardi's painting represents a wide ground at the forefront, where lay the scene, and a setting in the background, set up there as if it was closing the play. 

As for Italian artist Panini, his paintings depict some characters standing underneath an arch, and at their feet, a stretch of water, still, deadly quiet, almost like alluding to the world from where nobody returns. But again, I have the sensation that the paintings are flat, as if I was meant to observe the only scene that painters had staged. Nothing more, nothing less. Hence, the flat aspect I can sense.

Therefore, I am happy to reconnect with a three-dimensional world by moving my look around some sculptures made by Rodin, A. Gilbert, J.J. Feuchere. 

These sculptures remind of me of life in its most powerful expression, notably through the representation of a body, weighted by emotions - like this Satan with a melancholic face - or in balance - as the Rodin's dancer - or powerful - as St George and the Dragon, Victory Leading where Victory stands by St George, with her chest leaning forward, almost crossing the bow she is holding, like an arrow ready to strike.

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A Neat Dream

Inventive and innovative, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” performed by Creation Theatre brings Shakespeare’s famous play to all and to our contemporary world. The play has been turned into a quest throughout Oxford city, leading the spectators into a sort of treasure hunt during which they search for clues that guide them to the different scenes. The stage direction has been so brilliantly 

well conceived, that it definitely succeeds in opening a door to a world of wonders, within the real world. The story, told by excellent comedians, unfolds at the corner of a street, in shops, in a cemetery, in a church, and it ends in a garden where we witness a happy ending of fortunate heroes whom loves were once thwarted, but finally celebrated. After such a marvellous journey, one can wonder if all of that has happened, unsure - even until now - of being awaken, or dreaming…

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Creation Theatre (23/06 - 30/07/206) Shakespeare Oxford Festival

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#ShakespeareOx16

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De passage à l’exposition «Habiter le campement»

L’exposition « Habiter le campement » présente, à l’ère contemporaine et à travers le monde, les modes de migration et les différentes formes d’habitats temporaires, qu’ils soient ceux de réfugiés fuyant la terreur, de migrants en transit vers le pays d’une nouvelle vie, de peuples nomades dont le voyage est intrinsèque de leur identité culturelle, d’aventuriers solitaires, de vacanciers sur la route, de festivaliers, et d’autres encore.

Exposition « Habiter le campement » à la Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine, à Paris (jusqu’au 29 août 2016)

Une série de panneaux présente, imprimées sur une toile en plastique et accompagnées d’un texte explicatif, les images de différentes situations de campement et d’habitat. L’installation sonore, qui jouxte l’exposition, adhère parfaitement à la muséographie car elle ne perturbe pas la lecture des panneaux, mais elle vient, au contraire, soutenir la concentration, comme si l’attention était mise en alerte par des flashs de lumière et par un son récurrent, fort, mais néanmoins contenu. Elle fait également écho au sujet de l’exposition car ses tubes néons, installés comme pour schématiser des encadrements de porte et placés sur plusieurs mètres à intervalles réguliers, forment un couloir, offrant ainsi un passage à travers l’exposition, pour rappeler au visiteur qu’il est lui-même, ici, en transition.

On peut toutefois regretter le fait que le volume sonore de l’installation, diffusé dans l’ensemble de la pièce, nuise à l’écoute d’autres créations sonores, petites capsules indépendantes disposant de casques audio pour une écoute individuelle. On peut aussi trouver la quantité d’images présentées un peu trop volumineuse. L’image photographique - d’une grande qualité - imprimée en plus grand format et dans une sélection plus limitée, aurait permis de faire contraster de manière plus évidente les différents modes d’habitat et de situations de campement et, en définitive, de saisir le sujet dans toute sa diversité avec une plus grande pertinence.

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Artists at the Edge of the Digital World

Exhibition ‘Electronic Superhighway (2016-1966)’ at Whitechapel gallery 29 Jan - 15 May 2016

Considering that the mass of information exchanged every year on the internet - about a zettabyte - represents a volume as large as the size of the Milky Way, 

we can easily feel overwhelmed by the digital era. At Whitechapel gallery, 70 artists took over digital technologies and the internet to compose about a hundred of artworks, revealing a mixture of feelings, from excitement to fear, going through all kind of fantasies generated by this new virtual world.

The field of digital technologies has opened the door of a limitless world that has exceeded the current frontier of our comprehension of the world. It contains too much information that the physical and mental spaces, as we know so far, can apprehend. This idea is well represented in the artwork Internet Cache Self Portrait by Evan Roth, that shows a printed paper unrolling too much information that the wall, onto which it is pasted, can physically contain. Limitless, shapeless, the digital world is seen, by some other artists, as a sort of threatening monster, disturbing, strange, and sometimes quietly oppressive like the artwork of Addie Wagenknecht, Asymmetric Love, a chandelier-like with CCTV cameras’ installation which seems to be hovering over us.

Going beyond the fear of new technologies, other artists consider the possibilities of connection that they offer. Artists remind us that we have entered a new kind of reality where it is possible to connect with each other, quickly, even instantaneously, as shown in Alan Kaprow’s artwork, Hello, for instance. The artwork presents a set up of TV screens broadcasting black and white archival films that show a group of people apparently trying for the first time a live broadcast, and from which we could hear an expression that has become very popular nowadays: “Hello? Hello? Could you hear/see me?”. This simple sentence leads to a significant question: what is this new possible reality where we can be here, without being here?

In other artworks, the question is about the relationship between humans and computers: we can see some humans touching the screen, falling on the other side of the screen, taking part to the virtual reality. Sometimes the relationship seems to be unbalanced as if machines were too intrusive, or haunting, like this multiple screens installation by Nam June Paik, Internet Dream, which looks like a giant many-eyed monster… At some point, we can wonder if, instead of allowing humans to connect with each other, technologies are not meant to replace humans, like this hologram, Homo Sacer by James Bridle, that welcomes visitors at the entrance of the exhibition. Going even further, we can also wonder if digital life should be considered having an existence and along with the question, the question about gender arises too, like in Zach Blas’ Queer Technologies where it is possible to get gender changed using an adaptor.

The more we think about the virtual world and the real world, the more they seem intertwined and sometimes the frontier between them is blurred. Some artworks challenge us on the question whether or not it is possible to define what is real. If we look at Jennifer in Paradise by Constant Dullaart, a woman seated on a beach and depicted in images that are changing, depending on the perspective, it makes us wonder what is the original image or what is the true reality. And actually there may be no true reality, but just a question of perspective, which reminds us that all what we see is always a distorted image…

On a happier note, some of the artists have decided to give a more playful sense to digital technologies in their artworks. With Do You Have Work Tomorrow? Mahmoud Khaled plays with text messaging to create a story board that shows a funny dialogue between two people. Then, we wonder: could it be that frightening, if it could be humorous?

There are plenty of ways to explore digital technologies and the internet. We have pushed to open wide a door to whole new world. Shall we be scared of it or be excited about it? We cannot tell, but we can be sure that this virtual world and the possibilities it brings along are a great source of inspiration.

Marianne Bevand

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When the Sky Becomes An Architecture that Creates Emptiness To Open A Path Towards Metaphysical Questions

Blue Box Project by Satoshi Hirose at MOT - Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, 2015

It started with a postcard, from a mail art project, taking place in Japan.

The postcard was illustrated with a photo of the sky taken by Japanese contemporary artist, Satoshi Hirose. As part of the project, the postcard meant to be sent to oneself, transiting by air mail from Japan to the artist living in Milan (Italy). Numerous of his exhibitions relate to the sky, but in this project, Satoshi Hirose uses the sky as an architecture like an empty space, a channel, a path, visitors cross when entering the art world. The postcard is the suitcase. A suitcase in which memories, like photos from the sky, can be kept as treasures.

Where does the idea begin? Imagine the artist, Satoshi Hirose, living a nomadic life, travelling from Milan, to Tokyo, to other places and his sharp eyes suddenly seized an astonishing scenery unfolding in front of his him during a flight: a beautiful sky, clear or grey with clouds or not, nuanced by many colours like light blue at daytime, yellow, orange, red and dark blue at dusk. This is easy to imagine for anyone who has ever looked through a window during a flight. The numerous flights S. Hirose took, has led him to get and develop ideas for his projects. At first, he decided to capture pictures of the sky he would see when traveling on an airplane and within 10 years he gathered about 3,000 photos, all showing a sky that never looks the same. For S. Hirose, the sky became a landmark, something he could constantly relate to when moving around the world to work on new projects and present exhibitions. Perhaps, the sky became a little bit like his house… Nonetheless he decided to share his special connection with the sky with the mail art / air mail project where visitors were invited to experience both symbolic and physical dimension of the sky, since they would cast words and thoughts on a ‘sky postcard’ as well as the latter, labelled AIR MAIL, would use the sky as a physical path to reach destination.

For me, the experience was even stronger because I sent the postcard few months before I left Japan and, like the postcard, I took a flight to return to Europe. When I was back in Europe, the postcard, alongside with a letter from the artist and a box of more ‘sky postcards’, returned to me as well. I had, then, shared the same connection as the postcard and this made me feel a strange sensation that led to me ask myself a metaphysical question… I was thinking that we all have different cultural backgrounds and that the soil differ depending on where we stand on earth, but I asked myself if the following expression was true: “we all live under the same sky.” Before living abroad I did not think that we could have a physical attachment to a location, because I thought that what would really matter for people was the culture. But maybe I was wrong. I was not considering that we could have a physical connection with a location, that we could smell the air, feel the sun, and breath differently if the atmosphere is humid, hot, dry or cold. And looking at the different images of the sky that Satoshi Hirose took in picture, I asked myself: is this air above our heads the same for all of us?

Viaggio by Satoshi Hirose ed. Silvana Editoriale 2008 (sky postcard book, Blue Box Project special edition)

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Planète Alberola : guide pour voyageurs intergalactiques

Exposition : “L'aventure des détails” de Jean-Michel Alberola, au Palais de Tokyo (19 février – 16 mai 2016)

Visiter l’exposition “L'aventure des détails” de Jean-Michel Alberola, au Palais de Tokyo, c’est comme se retrouver dans une capsule, en connexion avec son propre monde intérieur et en dialogue avec une constellation d’oeuvres d’art. 

C’est déambuler dans un dédale d’oeuvres qui interpellent la réflexion, mais qui laisse le soin au visiteur de remplir les blancs, de trouver les liens qui relient une oeuvre à une autre. Au visiteur de voir un fil rouge dans un genre d’exposition semblable au mode de l’hypertextualité, dense et riche de références à d’autres artistes, écrivains, penseurs, politiciens, etc. 

Oeuvres de Jean-Michel Alberola, exposition au Palais de Tokyo 2016 (haut et bas).

L’exposition, présentée comme une rétrospective du travail de Jean-Michel Alberola, amène le visiteur à traverser l’étendue de son univers artistique, jonchée d’oeuvres multiples et variées (l’exposition comprend plus de 300 oeuvres) - de la peinture à la sculpture, en passant par les textes, les dessins, les néons, le cinéma, etc. La planète Alberola est encore, même pour les professionnels de l’art, un territoire inconnu et mal déterminé, mais propice à l’émergence de questionnements, jaillissant tels des fenêtres pop-up, connectées à d’autres univers intelligibles et sensibles.

Certaines oeuvres de Jean-Michel Alberola pourraient faire penser à l’OuLiPo, dans le sens où elles s’amusent avec le texte, avec le sens des mots et leur calligraphie, comme pour s’affranchir des contraintes et inventer de nouvelles formes créatrices. Et en même temps la place est aussi laissée au dessin, à la représentation, aux formes visuelles et plastiques. Les oeuvres délivrent des messages poétiques, politiques (avec de nombreux écrits marxistes), presque militants parfois, mais il s’agit également de notes ou d’esquisses qui semblent avoir été griffonnées rapidement sur un bout de papier comme s’il l’on avait voulu s’assurer de pouvoir conserver une idée ou une image, apparue furtivement et qui pourrait s’échapper à tout instant.

De fil en aiguille le visiteur tisse sa propre compréhension de l’ensemble des oeuvres, décidant de retenir ou non certaines oeuvres, plus ou moins légères, comme les oeuvres sous forme de bulles de BD ou d’autres, plus cyniques, comme celle représentant une enclume dans un cercueil construit sur mesure. 

Quoiqu’il en soit, le visiteur ne pourra pas passer au travers de cette exposition sans qu’une idée, un message, ou disons, pour être plus juste, une oeuvre sensible, c’est-à-dire à la fois chargée de sens et modelée selon une sensibilité esthétique, sans que cette oeuvre, donc, provoque un tressaillement de l’inconscient, si ce n’est de la conscience même. Touché !

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“Bentu” l’exposition de bout en bout, à la Fondation Louis Vuitton

“Bentu - des artistes chinois dans la turbulence des mutations”, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (27 janvier – 2 mai 2016)

La Fondation Louis Vuitton a ouvert une exposition d’artistes contemporains chinois depuis le début de l’année. Aux côtés de cette exposition, on ne peut manquer Grotto, une oeuvre spécialement conçue par l’artiste islando-danois, Olafur Eliasson. 

Il faut ressortir du musée, mais toujours dans l’enceinte du bâtiment, près des fontaines d’eau, est érigée l’oeuvre composée d’une colonnade avec des piliers placés à des intervalles irréguliers et dont les facettes sont constituées soit de miroirs, soit d’une lumière diffuse de couleur jaune, filtrée au travers d’une mosaïque de losanges. L’oeuvre appelle inévitablement au jeu : suivre la colonnade le long de la coursive, zigzaguer entre les piliers - si l’intervalle le permet - tout en observant les effets d’optique et le changement de perception dans l’espace. Olafur Eliasson a su parfaitement intégrer l’oeuvre dans l’architecture du bâtiment en relevant le défit de la rendre presque invisible et en même temps monumentale. Cette oeuvre ouvre la porte sur un véritable univers, comme un rideau de théâtre qui révèle l’oeuvre et qui confond le visiteur en acteur, celui-ci attrapé comme un papillon de nuit attiré par la lumière, jouant derrière la colonnade, caché, puis dévoilé, se mouvant dans un espace dont on ne sait plus distinguer s’il est le réel où s’il est le reflet du réel, tant on s’y perd dans le jeu des effets de miroir et de lumière.

Grotto, Olafur Eliasson

Une mélodie aux sonorités asiatiques, provenant de l’oeuvre vidéo The Woman in Front of the camera de Hu Xiangqian, rappelle le visiteur à l’entrée de l’exposition “Bentu - des artistes chinois dans la turbulence des mutations” et le transporte d’entrée de jeu aux confins de la Chine. Dans la première salle on perçoit une sensation de déséquilibre, causé par l’étonnante disposition des oeuvres : le passage à l’entrée est restreint par l’installation d’une série de sculptures alignées les unes derrière les autres, créée par Xu Zhen et intitulée Eternity-The Soldier of Marathon Announcing Victory, A Wounded Galatian. Dans la même salle, sur la gauche en entrant, se trouve l’oeuvre vidéo Physique of consciousness du même artiste, et au fond, est présentée la peinture monumentale Purple Air de Liu Wei. Le déséquilibre de notre propre corps, créé par la disposition des oeuvres dans la salle, répond finalement à l’équilibre des corps dont il est question dans ces oeuvres : les sculptures dans leur équilibre et présentant des corps athlétiques, l’équilibre du corps et de l’esprit obtenu au travers d’une suite d’exercices présentée dans l’oeuvre vidéo. Seule l’oeuvre, Purple Air, dans le fond, suspend l’interrogation. Sa représentation pourrait faire penser à celle d’un écran de téléviseur couleurs en dysfonctionnement, mais l’oeuvre vient, peut-être ici, ponctuer le cheminement du visiteur par une question, amenant celui-ci à retenir son souffle afin d’essayer de décrypter quelque chose dans l’oeuvre.

Eternity-The Soldier of Marathon Announcing Victory, A Wounded Galatian, Xu Zhen.  Purple Air, Liu Wei (fond)

La salle suivante ralentit, plus encore, le pas du visiteur puisqu’il est à nouveau question de perception visuelle, avec des oeuvres de Liu Wei, jouant des formes, des reflets, des couleurs et de la lumière. Ici, on interroge le point du vue, on invite le visiteur, dans la limite des lignes à ne pas franchir, à se déplacer pour voir apparaître les oeuvres sous différentes perspectives.

(new production), Liu Wei

Ensuite, deux portes battantes renferment l’oeuvre de Cao Fei, Strangers, dévoilant un aspect du monde auquel la société chinoise, comme la nôtre, est confrontée quotidiennement : les nouvelles technologies. Des écrans suspendus ouvrent une fenêtre sur l’espace intime de plusieurs personnes, apparemment en live, en session vidéo chat. Les écrans sont placés de telle façon qu’ils semblent dialoguer les uns avec les autres, renvoyant ainsi le visiteur à une position de voyeur, solitaire, traversant la pièce assombrie, l’oeil rivé sur les écrans allumés où se joue une histoire, attrayante de prime abord, mais se révélant être d’une banalité somme toute commune.

Strangers, Cao Fei

A la sortie, un grand écran attire notre regard sur une vidéo intitulée BBR1 (NO.1 OF BLOSSOM BUD RESTRAINER) de Liu Chuang. Il est fait allusion à un environnement urbanisé et à l’ambiance frénétique de la publicité et de la surenchère pour inventer de nouveaux produits dans un monde, où la nature, en plein dérèglement, se développe de manière invasive comme dans une tentative de reprendre le dessus, pourrait-on croire. Dans cette vidéo on y voit la promotion publicitaire d’un produit nommé “BBR1”, inventé par des hommes, chimistes fous, pour combattre cette nature trop envahissante.

BBR1 (NO.1 OF BLOSSOM BUD RESTRAINER), Liu Chuang

A côté, 1 Character & 7 Materials de Tao Hui, est une oeuvre plus intime et discrète, mais non moins frappante. Casque sur les oreilles, on entend une voix de femme qui s’élève et témoigne d’une histoire difficile dans un monde rural et conservateur. Sa voix, pourtant douce, raconte une histoire tragique, qui nous est narrée dans le creux de l’oreille, et à la fois présentée sous les yeux par l’intermédiaire d’une installation vidéo animée, en lien avec la piste audio.

Puis, à nouveau placés comme pour ralentir le visiteur dans sa course, des panneaux affichent l’oeuvre Currency Wars de Xu Qu. Cette oeuvre s’inspire des illustrations de billets en cours dans différents pays, et semble représenter un monde qu’on ne peut traverser sans être confronté à l’argent.

Currency Wars, Xu Qu

Plus loin, dans le fond, une salle de projection présente Speech at the Edge of the World de Hu Xiangqian. On y voit l’artiste en personne donner un discours, dans une petite province de Chine, face à de jeunes chinois scolarisés dans un établissement où l’artiste lui-même y avait été étudiant. L’oeuvre laisse entrevoir un certain enthousiasme et une fragilité face aux incertitudes des destins de ces jeunes chinois que l’artiste, dans son discours véhément, tente d’encourager pour qu’ils prennent conscience de leur potentiel et des moyens qu’ils peuvent se donner pour le futur. Le titre de l’oeuvre est évocateur, dans le sens où “the edge” renvoie à la limite physique de la localité géographique où se trouve cette petite province de Chine, mais aussi dans le sens où il renvoie au tournant de la vie, qui peut offrir de nouvelles possibilités.

 Speech at the Edge of the World, Hu Xiangqian

Dans une autre salle, l’oeuvre Blue Kylin de Yang Fudong donne une impression de silence et de calme, mais elle présente pourtant un portrait d’ouvriers à la mine grave, ou tout du moins au regard profond, et dont les conditions de travail ont l’air rude. 

La suite de l’exposition débouche sur une pièce, tapissée de carrés de tissus, dans laquelle défile une bande-son d’extraits publicitaires. L’oeuvre, intitulée From Happiness to Whatever et conçue par Liu Shiyuan, pose la question des fondements du bonheur dans un monde régit par les lois de la consommation. De cette pièce tapissée, peut tout aussi bien se dégager une atmosphère douce et protectrice, comme une sensation d’étouffement, rendue par le confinement.

From Happiness to Whatever, Liu Shiyuan

Quelques pas plus loin se trouvent les peintures en grand format de Liu Xiaodong et l’oeuvre picturale gigantesque Map of the Third world de Qiu Zhijie : une carte de géographie imaginaire, retraçant les grands traits de l’histoire politique et sociale de Chine, ainsi que l’histoire liée à sa religion et à ses croyances. “Êtes-vous parvenu à suivre jusque-là dans le vaste univers de la Chine, ou bien faut-il tout reprendre depuis le début ?”, l’oeuvre cartographique pourrait-elle dire.

Map of the Third world, Qiu Zhijie

À la sortie de l’exposition, le corps est éprouvé par les expériences sensorielles et la tête occupée par des réflexions, des impressions et des questionnements. En définitive, ces artistes contemporains ont su exprimer et transmettre avec leur sensibilité et à travers leur regard, un ressenti sur une Chine, en pleine mutation et qui semble être à la limite de la rupture. On ne pourra pas oublier ce voyage aux confins d’univers artistiques multiples et à travers une Chine contemporaine plus insaisissable que jamais.

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To Get Access, Find Code: “LSD” Exhibition At the Rob Tufnell Gallery, London.

Amongst buildings blocks constructed in the 1930s, after the disastrous Thames flood, a gatekeeper's lodge became, in 2009, the renowned Rob Tufnell, contemporary art gallery in London. In this little square room gallery, I found myself living a similar experience to the one I lived  few minutes earlier when I was searching for the gallery: unexpected and difficult to access. 

At first, I did not find the gallery immediately because I was searching for what could look like a gallery not really minding about searching for the number 83 of Page street, but then, I finally arrived in front of a door that was locked. Luckily, someone arrived to let me in. So, to those unexpected events and to the feeling of being lost, a strange experience came in addition: I was standing in the square room, looking at square pieces of sheet, divided in smaller squares whose some of them were presenting prints that were repeated several times on the sheet’s smaller squares. I had a sensation that I was experiencing something psychedelic, that I was attracted to those prints and to the repeated ones whose I had to come closer to see the tiny details: monkeys, the moon, alphabet, messages like “STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE”, a man’s face profile, another man wearing spiral glasses, etc. The exhibition generated doubts in me: I was unsure of what I was looking at just as well as this place seems unreal to me. Then, I came upon the exhibition’s title that showed me some guidance at the same time as it lost me: “LSD”.

“LSD” exhibition, a series of prints created by a plurality of artists at the Rob Tufnell gallery, London (25 Feb. - 19 Mar. 2016).

But, don’t get me wrong: the exhibition is a real gem amongst other exhibitions in London. It pushes visitors to find codes to get access, as well as it is about codes that the exhibition is dealing with: codes in the branding industry, also treated in the Pop art movement as some artworks tend to recall it. And, the exhibition puts also in question codes and iconographic that became extremely popular though they were linked with the drogue’s clandestine activity in the 1970s.

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How Ceramic Artist, Betty Woodman, Succeeds in Bringing Excitement and Life in Contemporary Art Installations

Looking at The Summer House of Betty Woodman, a large-scale artwork specially created to be presented during a solo exhibition which started on February 3rd at ICA London, I thought it was very accurate to consider the artist’s work not just as paintings or sculptures, but more as installations.

Indeed, it seems that a performance could emerge from her art, as if the artwork was a set of a stage ready to welcome a live performance.

Betty Woodman’s solo exhibition at ICA London (3 Feb 2016 – 10 Apr 2016)

Not only Betty Woodman’s art blurred the frontier of art categories, but it also poses the question about the physical limits of art and about the effects it creates when playing with these limits. Paintings are delineated by the ceramics’ surface and by the canvas in which the artist paints. Besides, ceramics’ sculptures are limited to the available space where the art is taking shape. However, the artworks seem to be able to move beyond these limits. For instance, the composition of painted ceramic pieces pasted on the wall, is not meant to represent a regular painting trapped in two dimensions, but it becomes a three dimensional artwork, allowing to feel the asperity of the work.

Another example is The Summer House, a large-scale artwork occupying a single room in itself; it is a combination between a painting, set on a wall, and sculptures, set on the floor, close to the wall. This artwork defines a delimitation of the art in a very singular way; it shows that when the art is set on the wall, it does not limit itself to the wall, but instead, the art navigates between the wall and the floor, alternating this way between two and three dimensions.

Therefore, playing with these limits, Betty Woodman creates something vibrating, almost alive, that makes the observer feel more the art. The artist has succeeded in adding to the artworks, an extra dimension; as if something could happen here, or as if it is possible to jump into the imaginary world it represents.