Headed round to some exhibitions this week starting with Rachel Rose at Pilar Corrias. Some incredible lenses are positioned on a lovely carpeted floor, with a film being the main focus of attraction. The film appears like a fairly big project, multiple actors all in full period costumes. Even with these intricate details the film falls a little flat, we weren’t really sure what it was about or how it related to the lenses. Always appreciate a carpeted floor though…
Next up was Andy Holden at the Cinema Museum. It’s a pretty exciting place – so much film paraphernalia all around. The film on show is his masterpiece ‘Laws of Motion in a Cartoon Landscape’ which examines the formation of ‘laws’ within cartoons as a way of making sense of the world we are now within, a space where anything could potentially happen. It’s made from hundreds of cartoons clips and adopts a part-lecture, part-documentary, part-conspiracy theory tone, with the artist rendered as a cartoon avatar in order to narrate his theory. Some of our favourite laws are “Everything falls faster than an anvil” and “Anybody suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation”, and these are mixed with Greek myths, philosophy, politics, physics and the history of animation to create an hour long exploration of the world as an irrational space where anything can happen, yet certain things reoccur, and in which a new set of Laws have formed. We’ve now seen it a handful of times and it get better every time.
Then we had ‘Subversive Stitch’ at TJ Boulting. Taking its name from Art Historian and prominent feminist Rozsika Parker’s 1984 book and 1988 touring exhibition ‘The Subversive Stitch – Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine’, it presentsa variety of textile-based artworks. Spanning the mediums of embroidery, weaving, tapestry, clothing and sculpture, it builds upon the rich history of the previously disregarded craft, considered a purely feminine and domesticated preoccupation until the twofold influence of both the Arts and Craft movement and the Suffrage movement, of the late 19th and early 20th century respectively, co-opted and subverted the medium, bringing it to the forefront of avant garde artistic practice. In contemporary art textile work retain that forward-thinking aesthetic, imbued with political, cultural and innovative touchstones usually associated with more traditional mediums. It was a really tight show, very beautiful and well-made objects with a consistent theme.
Finally, we had isthisit? taking over Harlesden High Street for the 6th issue of their book which was all about fake news. As always it was a really diverse show, paintings, sculptures, videos and algorithms – there’s plenty to get your teeth stuck into. A work that stuck out was the fictional newspaper by Frank Wasser which depicts an alternative future where trump is assassinated. Overall a great show with so many exciting artists.
