We’re trying to get out and see more art since that’s one of the major reasons we’re in this city. We tend to visit a couple a week but we’re going to aim to dedicate at least one full day a week to going around looking at shows because we’ve been slipping recently. Today we began with Pilar Corrias which had a two person show by Gerasimos Floratos and Christina Quarles. Some dull/generic colourful paintings, and blobby sculptures of similar aesthetics.
Downstairs was more successful; a film by Trisha Baga played on a projector, with a disco ball situated on the floor, catching the light from the corner of the projection. This was a lovely addition to the film’s content, which was all about global celebrities such as Madonna and the pop culture landscapes.
Next door is Pi artworks where there was a series of paintings by Selma Parlour which were all made up of a variety of coloured lines and shapes. Dull and samey – the press release uses words like ‘diagrammatic’ and ‘otherworldly’ which are used with a serious pint of salt, and we assume are merely used to elevate the work’s importance…so nothing really new there.
After that was Frith Street gallery and a new set of works by Polly Apfelbaum. The room looks very considered; porcelain gloves hang on the walls, giant rugs with the outlines of feet on the floor. But it doesn’t seem to really DO anything but perhaps that’s because we feel as if we’re presented with so much content and then not a lot of context?
On to Sadie Coles HQ where Darren Bader has a solo show which we really enjoyed. On entering the space it’s similar to a yard sale but after a moment it’s obviously more considered than that. Initially you assume that it’s all art because it’s within the white walls etc. etc. but it’s actually just an arrangement of works by Bader, another artist Anca Munteanu Rimnic and a general assortment of stuff, including works by other artists. It made us think a lot about the role of the viewer/audience when determining value. Another great part was that a number of the ‘works’ in the exhibition comprise proposals for unrealised – perhaps unrealisable – artworks. We’ve now looked further into Darren Bader and now recognise some of these as models or blueprints for ‘trash sculptures’, which is an ongoing series in which he creates or selects a sculptural form as a rubbish container.
Southard Reid isn’t a gallery we had been to before due to it being quite tucked away even though it’s in central London. The most interesting aspect for us was a film by Edward Thomasson (who we noticed vie the credits was assisted by his regular collaborator Lucy Beech) title ‘Inside’. It was this bizarre, uncanny narrative of what appeared to be convicted women partaking in some sort of art therapy session where they draw “what they feel on the inside”. These drawings then go on to illustrate a song being sung by a man and a woman in a different space entirely. It’s all very strange and intriguing at the same time. We concluded that it was about how the act of storytelling is used as a way to understand environments and exchange experience.
We hadn’t been to Rodeo since Condo last year so it was fun to head there again because the space itself is a fun one. Robert Overby’s self-referential canvas maps were fine but didn’t blow us away. Ian Law’s black and white photographs, framed by Barbie Dream House floors, seemed muddled and forced in attempting to be highly philosophical without any reasoning.
Finally, we had Chisenhale which has a show by Lydia Ourahmane. She’s drawn on pre-existing aspects of the gallery such as the doors and floor and made them her own – something we’re very jealous of since this is clearly an expensive endeavour that can only be swallowed by a big gallery. Our favourite work however has to be ‘In the Absence of our Mothers’ which consists of a single gold tooth, which resides in the gallery space, and a duplicate gold tooth that is implanted within Ourahmane’s mouth. Commitment and mystery all wrapped into one; excellent.
