IKON Gallery

This week I visited Ikon Gallery, and I have to say upon first view of the programme I wasn't exactly enthused, images in a leaflet can never live up to real life. So my premature indifference quickly passed upon viewing the Pacific Tapa paintings. The early 20th century barkcloth paintings are unexpected in both size and detail with an uneven, creased surface that is both abstract and beautifully meticulous.

This was the first time I have come across barkcloth, formed from the inner bark of specific trees in the region of New Guinea. This cloth has been used for garments, rituals and in sacred spaces, often a sign of wealth. But more important than their materiality, is the way in which communities are brought together through making. Similar to other cultures, it is women who work collectively in producing the cloths, instigating social and creative expression.  

In a coinciding exhibition, Francois Morellet's paintings are a stark contrast to the previous work, but the artist was heavily influenced by the Tapa paintings. His abstract style is clean and precise, verging on optical illusion. Though it is possible to see how the patterns, repetition and shapes of the Tapa paintings have filtered their way into Morellets's work "my first love was focused on the art...of the islands of Oceania and especially Tapa from Fiji and the Solomon Islands, that contain everything that I loved and I still love: precision, rigor, geometry..." Although Francois Morellet finds his work to be "rather joyful" I personally find the paintings too clinical, too precise. The small abnormalities within the Tapa barkcloth create a sense of human presence which I think Morellet's work is void of, missing the community, collaborative spirit that Pacific paintings encapsulate. Never the less, this exhibition provides a unique opportunity to compare the two sets of paintings, bridging the gap between past and present, representing changing cultures. I know which I prefer.  

François Morellet. (quand j’étais petit je ne faisais pas grand) (d’après n°52010 “Cercles et demi-cercles”, 1952)”,(2006)
Acrylic on canvas on wood

In the reception hall is a new permanent installation by Oliver Beer. It is a simple yet highly effective piece that simultaneously distorts and clarifies the outside world, blurring the lines between inside and outside space. By bestowing an ear (or an eye) to the small, trumpet like opening, viewers can catch small observations of the square outside, hear the world passing byand even feel a cool draft as the air channels through the crystal tube.  

Oliver Beer, Outside -In (2013) Installation View

Oliver Beer, Outside-In, (2013)

Tapa Barkcolth Paintings from the Pacific and Francois Morellet exhibitions end 14th July.

Beautiful Brutality

Mat Collishaw, Insecticide 14 (2009) C-Type photo on Dibond 

           Upon beginning the cycle of life, every natural being confronts the trials of survival. As humans we seem to forget that we are part of this, setting ourselves above nature’s barbarous world.  But still, we are drawn into natures unknown, as we strive to unpick its inner workings through intense scrutiny, experimentation and collection of living creatures.          

Directed by orchestrated moments of cruelty and beauty, The Nature of the Beast is an exhibition that treads a fine line between allure and repulsion, calling into question the very essence of mankind. What is the nature of the beast?

            The artists selected, Mat Collishaw, Polly Morgan, Tessa Farmer, Mark Fairnington, Olly & Suzi and Patricia Piccinni use varying media to critically engage with the ways in which the animal kingdom is documented, categorized and portrayed in both culture and contemporary art. Within this short write up I will highlight the pieces that really struck a chord with me when I visited the exhibition at the New Art Gallery Walsall.

            Usually regarded as social and affectionate creatures, the brightly hued taxidermy Lovebirds in Polly Morgan’s Myocardial Infarction scavenge like vultures over a bleeding heart. This violent construction bears a contradiction between beauty and brutality that is unsettling within the viewer, as frozen in time is a reminder of our primal instincts.

            Coexisting in the space with Morgan’s three taxidermy pieces are a number of works from Mat Collishaw’s Insecticide series.  The pitifully crushed wings of moths and butterflies are amplified in scale allowing the remnants of these minute beings to be studied in detail. The finite becomes infinite as these creatures, symbolic of transformation; death and beauty become celestial bodies at the hands of the artist. Coupled with Morgan’s work the control we hold over creatures smaller or less able than ourselves becomes visible, re-evaluating attitudes towards the animal kingdom.

            The immense detail in Mark Fairnington’s six prize bull paintings reflects the reproduction and meticulous breeding of live-stock.  Each is stood in an iconic, stoic pose that harks back to the history of painting and is offset by clinical, stark white backgrounds. Stripped from their natural surroundings, the bulls are treated like lab specimens, and come under scrutiny which, as a viewer, you cannot help but par-take in through the awe created by Fairingtons highly detailed and exquisitely painted surfaces.

            The ‘beasts’ portrayed within the work of these artists do not represent the natural world but rather a reflection upon ourselves as animal consumers. Our fascinations and fears have culminated in prolonging research and experimentation of animals in order for humankind to maintain control of the world through knowledge and power. Is this survival of the fittest? Is this the true nature of the beast?

The Nature of the Beast is at the New Art Galley Walsall until the 30^th June.