’Animalesque / Art Across Species and Beings’.
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Gateshead.
November 2019 - April 2020
The collaborative exhibition includes an assortment of artworks, created from 17 international artists. Bringing together an outstanding selection of artworks - film and video, drawing and sculpture, installation and sound art. Inviting the viewer to reconsider the role humans play in the world, the relationship with other life forms, and, the variety of complexities that bond the planet together. The artists’ exploration of issues surrounding the fragility and imminent destruction of the planet, consider the role that art can have in societal change.
We are being faced with the hypocritical nature of our relationship with the world around us. ‘Animalesque’ doesn’t play into the heartwarming animal content we might typically be drawn to, but it does push us towards the realities of our own disregard.
Ho Tzu Nyen’s, ‘2 or 3 Tigers’, was my favourite artwork from the exhibition. The installation piece was centred in the room, a large black cube to enter with seating and screens.
Ho Tzu Nyen ‘2 or 3 Tigers’. 2015
Synchronised double channel HD (CGI) projection.
Sitting in the darkened room, one massive screen on either side of my vision. To my right, a CGI tiger appears to be suspended and floating in a black space, to my left, a man features, rendered on the second screen. An overwhelming, alternating sound of voice, singing and whaling can be heard, making me feel quite uncomfortable but intrigued enough to stay seated. As man and tiger orbit on separate screens, myself as the viewer, sat parallel in the space between the two. It was a truly inspiring installation, a stand out piece that I will remember. The seemingly simplistic setup and surroundings did not prepare me for the theatricality and hypnotic display I saw and heard. I felt immersed in the whole experience and narrative portrayed. An inspiration artwork to aspire to, Nyen’s piece explores the mythical figure of the ‘Were-Tiger’, the ecological upheaval caused by British colonialism and the role of the striped big cat in Mayan folklore as the estranged sibling of the human being. The work really touched on our own nature and the cruelty we have shown on other species. View a short video here....
Judy Chicago Exhibition.
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Gateshead.
November 2019 - April 2020
In this first major UK exhibition of her work, Chicago demonstrates the political self-awareness that has spanned her 50 year career. Presenting a summary of a vibrant and vital artistic practice that veers from 1970’s First Wave feminism to more recent reflections on the global climate crisis.
It was fantastic to see the Baltic secure such a monumental exhibition, presenting and celebrating Chicagos’ work in her 80th birthday year; a great achievement for the North East!
Judy Chicago ‘My Accident’ 1986
In ‘My Accident’ (1986), Chicago documents the occasion she was hit by a truck whilst out running, detailing not only the incident but the lasting emotion trauma. Grim photographs of her naked, bruised body are accompanied by illustrations in pencil depicting in detail the accident and aftermath.
Marjolaine Ryley.
‘This Is What I See’
Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art. Sunderland.
November 2019 - February 2020
The exhibition encompasses projects created over a full two decades, as well as a new series created between 2015 - 2019. Ryley’s work, often in photography and text, invites us to explore ideas of personal memory, social history, relationships and the narrative of these through images
‘Received Wisdom’ Museum & Winter Gardens. Sunderland.
‘Received Wisdom’, features artwork created by older artists, and is the first exhibition in a three year partnership with the Arts Council Collection.
Bringing together 36 artists, the exhibition challenges and confronts assumption about ageing creatives, those who have discovered art in later life.
Allen Jones, ‘Small Fan Dancer (Variation No.1)’ 1982.
John Stezaker, ‘Pair V’ 2007. Amikan Toren, ‘Received Wisdom’ 2006.
Kennith Armitage, ‘Small model with Funnel (A)’ 1963.
Phyllida Barlow, ‘Untitled: cementpost’ 2015; ‘Untitled: frames’ 2015.
Janet Nathan, ‘Fairway’ 2004.
‘Small Fan Dancer’ (Variation No.1), 1982; has a painterly quality as if cut out from a painting. He has allowed the viewer to see the volume of the figure in the round rather than a single view.
The Spaghetti Factory Presents: ‘Hot New It’
Museum & Winter Gardens. Sunderland.
February 2019 - May 2020
The second in a series of three shows at the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens. The focus of the project is contemporary art talent from Sunderland. The exhibition was in response to the ‘Received Wisdom’ exhibition and featured four local artists from Sunderland.
Work by Katie Watson and Kevin Petrie.
Katie Watson’s practice translates methods of ‘do it yourself’ assembly into painting, visually describing movements and processes which are universally understood.
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https://sunderlandculture.org.uk/received-wisdom-online-exhibition/
https://www.sunderlandbid.co.uk/events/hot-new-it