art february in london - part 3

One Place - Chiharu Shiota 塩田千春

19.02-27.03.2010

 

One Place (2010)

This is Chiharu Shiota's first solo show in the UK. The masterpiece of the show is definitely the title piece of the show, One Place (as shown above). Made from over 400 found windows from East Berlin where the artist lives and works, the fenestrations are collected over the years from deserted and dismantled buildings, construction sites, disused psychiatric hospitals and uninhabited apartments. 

One Place (2010)

One Place (2010)

One Place does not have her usual signature 'spider-web' element physically like the other pieces in the show. But instead the windows themselves are woven into each other like a web and form the spiral spaces within them horizontally, as well as progressively climbing up towards the skylight to introduce a sense of motion/break-through amid its stationary nature.

Trauma / Alltag (Dress) (behind - 2009)
Her monochromatic palette of black and white is a powerful twist to the supposingly tender gesture of threads wrapping around objects. This could be an influence of living in a relatively brutal city (Berlin) during her career compared to her home town (Osaka). This eclectic mix of poetry (within the softness of individual strings and floating objects) and tension (the pulling threads as well as the fragility of the works) is what makes the audience fascinated.

Full photo set here

*****

The Astronomy of the Subway by Jitish Kallat
Haunch of Venison
15.02-27.03.2010

Anger at the Speed of Fright (2010)

On the other side of the gallery shows the works of Indian artist Jitish Kallat. As the introduction in the gallery website, Jitish's pieces on display show "his interest in the bustling metropolis lies the experience of the individual within the crowd. " The works are varied in media as well, ranging from video, sculptural installation to photography and his well-known large format paintings.

The Cry of the Gland (2009)

Untitled (2009)

Jitish's works are also currently on display in Saatchi Gallery's exhibition - "The Empire Strikes Back - India Art Today". Below is a clip from the Economist's Youtube channel of the artist speaking about his perspective on modern Indian Art -

Youtube link

*****

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010
12.02-17.04.2010

Donovan Wylie at the introduction video for each shortlisted photographers

Every year, the Photographers' Gallery would shortlist 4 photographers for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. This year, Anna Fox (british), Zoe Leonard (american), Sophie Ristelhueber (french) & Donovan Wylie (british) are selected with their respective exhibition series.

Donovan Wylie

The favourite from @londonart would be Donovan Wylie's documentary-style works of the Maze Prison in Belfast, which was symbol for the conflict between loyalists and nationalists. Donovan managed to capture its architecture in the absence of any inhabitants before its demolition. The emptiness of these images invoke deep thoughts about the life of those who had lived inside before.

Donovan Wylie's work of the prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland

*****

Further Readings -
Official website of Chiharu Shiota
Walking in my Mind - Group show in the Hayward Gallery featuring Chiharu Shiota
Artist of the week 76: Chiharu Shiota by Skye Sherwin for the Guardian, 24.02.2010
Entry of Jitish Kallat in wikipedia
Official page for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010 at the Photographers' Gallery website
BBC's online album for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010

art july in london - part 3

Walking in my mind - Hayward Gallery

Hayward Gallery's annual summer exhibition last year (Psycho Buildings) has been quite popular with its interactive exhibits. This year, the gallery invited &à artists around the world to create some large-scale pieces in an attempt to "transform the Hayward Gallery's indoor galleries and outdoor sculpture terraces into a series of gigantic sculptural environments", which in short, means "repeat the success as much as possible".

walking in my mind by you
official poster showing Yayoi Kusama's (草間彌生) work

walking in my mind by you
by Chiharu Shiota 塩田千春

While the show is a bit kaleidoscopic (there is really a piece applying this concept) which seems that every artist is speaking on their own, the show title does warn you that a common theme could be non-existent. Nevertheless the works shown could evoke thinking for viewers, be it the walls of posters by Keith Tyson or the signature chaotic web of strings of Chiharu Shiota. Feelings are intensified with the scale and complexity of the works, on the contrary of minimalism which takes the essence only and strips the rest. This show is about enlarging the essence and giving it a spin on and on and out around the immediate space and into the audience's mind.

walking in my mind by you
by Thomas Hirschhorn 

full photo set here

Further reading -
official website for Walking in My Mind
curator's audio pod-cast for download before visiting the gallery
official website for Psycho Buildings
review by Laura Cumming for the Observer
Keith Tyson's upcoming show in Parasol Unit opening on 16.09