Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors.

Smoke and Mirrors is our final end of year show and is a collection of our final work that we have produced over the last two years. There is a very wide range of art at the show, pieces that cater to every taste from painting to video. The exhibition itself is split onto two levels, the downstairs containing work from Dee Edmonds, Mario Esteves, Natalie Hill, Katie Furler and Matt Exley and the Upstairs containing work by me, Andrzej Ford, Sherrie Leigh-Webb and Katie Furler (again).

Downstairs is set up as more traditional gallery environment, with large paintings by Dee this first thing you encounter, Dee's work which has taken a massive leap in size but her style remains the same, her paintings are very individual in the sense that she has developed a very personal style and this goes beyond the paintings, the way they are clipped to the wall with clamps normally seen on a market stall gives these paintings a narrative, almost as if they have been brought from a different environment and placed within the gallery and this is why they are in the condition they are in.

Juxtaposing Dee's work are Mario's large dark landscapes, these romantically titled paintings remind me of single tone Rothko's but with a difference and that is the inclusion or suggestion of a horizon.

In the "chapel" we have Big Bertha by Matt, this object, which looks like an overgrown form of fungus sits. When entering the space you notice an odd smell and you can not help but be overwhelmed by the object, it's size in comparison to the room that it is placed and the way that it appears to have grown out of the floor lead to a very interesting piece of work.

Matthew has also got another piece, titled Box Legs, where he individually constructed 99 wooden boxes with nails for legs which he coated in a specially made substance, the objects are placed at just below waist level giving you strange perspective that you normally only see when down lower.

On the Balcony we have two pieces, one by Natalie and one by Katie, Natalie's piece uses thread to create space, and to make us aware of our surroundings, the work itself is very impressive and the effect is hypnotic as it is difficult for your eye to focus on the thread.... tbc

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot at the Barbican

"Trained as a musician and composer, French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot creates works by drawing on the rhythms of daily life to produce sound in unexpected ways. His installation for The Curve will take the form of a walk-though aviary for a flock of zebra finches, furnished with electric guitars and other instruments and objects. As the birds go about their routine activities, perching on or feeding from the various pieces of equipment, they create a captivating, live soundscape."

i had to queue for an hour to view this piece of work, which is similar to a mid-level popularity ride at thorpe park, but still feels like a pretty long time. upon entering the "curve" you first walk along a wooden walkway reminiscent of a beach. it is dark in this area, with just the sound of the birds and guitars travelling round the curve. Unfortunately it all went a bit downhill when you got to the end where the actual "work" was.


Early in the day i went to the oxo tower on south bank and had a meal, for the starter i ordered kangaroo, which was very exciting but when i actually eat it, it was a bit like the steak in the steak and cheese subway.

Like that disappointment when i finally rounded the corner and saw the birds, guitars, and drums placed in the space it wasn't what i expected, the birds didn't seem too keen to actually land on the guitars and when they did it didn't make too much noise, when it worked it was nice, but all it really was was "nice" and i wouldn't say it created a sound-scape.


The main feature and attraction was the birds, but i could of seen more birds with less queue if i'd gone to bird world, and i could have listened to Jimi Hendrix on my ipod.


"Kangaroo tataki, chilli jam, crispy Thai spices, soya glaze £10.50"


i cant really recommend the above starter

Ink D, Modern Toss Show

funny, competitively priced prints.

Alice Anderson at the Riflemaker

Anderson has been working with dolls, models and mannequins for several years. For this show at the Riflemakers she showed a number of pieces of work, including one site specific piece on the ground floor in which she filled the room with over a thousand meters of fake dolls hair that extended out of the door and up to the second floor.

Downstairs in a darkened room, was a video titled "the night i became a doll" and a silicon mask of the artists face, and finally on the top floor were a series of models, featuring dolls created from the doll hair.

The show overall had a very flowing feel, each work connected to the others without feeling repetitive, the art worked particularly well within the gallery, which is an amazing space. Downstairs, lit only by the light of the projected film, the space had an eerie air, especially with the amazingly accurate mask in the corner. Although there was not much work in the small gallery the quality of Andersons work made for a memorable experience and i will be looking out for her work in future.    

Margaux's Crit (Pour Margaux)

Lorsque vous entrez dans l'espace critique j'ai été confronté à deux scènes, celle d'un mur peint en blanc cassé avec pommes de terre peinte de la même off suspendus à partir de fil blanc et l'autre de trois pommes de terre ci-joint de la même manière sur le mur adjacent, mais peintes de la même couleur que la pomme de terre sous la peinture.

La beauté de cette pièce est dans le détail, à l'approche du mur avec les pommes de terre blanches que vous voyez le liquide dribble de la pomme de terre pourries et les yeux se frayer un chemin à travers la peinture. La pièce est encore en évolution que vous vous tenez là, ça continue de grimper et de mourir en même temps. Au niveau de gravité encore plus lente évolution se fait aussi des ravages sur la pièce, les pommes de terre fléchissement vers le bas au-dessus de l'autre comme vieille peau.

Il est intéressant de l'art n'est plus dans les mains de l'artiste, la gravité et la pourriture ont repris le travail et le résultat est entre leurs mains. La pomme de terre est le légume neutre, il n'a pas de caractéristiques particulières définissant, peint en blanc et quand cet attribut est mis en évidence plus loin, cela signifie que tant que lecteur vous ne pouvez pas m'empêcher d'examiner les détails.

Le mur adjacent, qui n'a qu'un seul fil à trois sur la pomme de terre, met en lumière certains points de vue différents, en peignant les pommes de terre de la couleur d'une pomme de terre fraîche, je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de penser qu'il était tout à fait donner un message différent à l'autre mur, le sentiment de la préservation tenté m'a fait penser à des gens jusqu'où vont à l'ordre de tenir à la fois sur leur jeunesse et leur apparence.


Merci

Margaux's Critique

(i forgot to take a photo of margaux's piece)

When entering the critique space I was confronted by two scenes, one of a off white painted wall with potatoes painted the same off white hanging from wire and the other of three potatoes attached in the same way to the adjacent wall but painted the same colour as the potato under the paint.


The beauty of this piece was in the detail, when approaching the wall with the white potatoes you see the fluid dribbling from the rotting potato and the eyes forcing their way through the paint. The piece is still evolving as you stand there; it's still growing and dying at the same time. On an even slower level of evolution gravity is also taking its toll on the piece, the potatoes sagging down on top of each other like old skin.

Interestingly the art is no longer in the hands of the artist, gravity and rot have taken over the work and the result is in their hands. The potato is neutral vegetable, it does not have any particular defining features, and when painted white this attribute is highlighted further, this means that as a viewer you can not help but examine the details.

The adjacent wall, which has only a single wire with three potato's on, highlights some different views, by painting the potatoes the colour of a fresh potato, I could not help but feel that it was giving quite a different message to the other wall, the feeling of attempted preservation made me think of the lengths people go to in order to hold on to both their youth and their looks.


Over and out.

our trip to london