Work By Julian Hughes (L) & Andrew Smith (R). |
A bunch of
interesting exhibition/gallery visits all came at once just lately and I’ve
already written about a couple in Birmingham and London. This post is about another, - ‘By The Way’, currently on display in
Nottingham’s Bohunk Institute in Nottingham, that I caught up with the other
day.
‘By the way’ is a multi-media group show with a nominally
‘Edgelands’ overall theme and focusing on various territories in the British
Midlands. It includes work by two
artists that I exhibited with in Birmingham last year, namely Shaun Morris,
(paintings), and Andrew Smith, aka Harvey Smoke, (writing), in addition to photography by SianStammers, David Severn, Helen Saunders and Julian Hughes, video and writing by
Wayne Burrows, writing by Rosie Garner and a word/photo collaboration between
Matt Merritt & Philip Harris.
Paintings By Shaun Morris, ('Black Ground': Far R). |
‘Edgelands’ is
one of those labels, like ‘Psychogeographic, and indeed ‘Urban’ that threatens
to become meaningless through overuse as shorthand. They can be useful as indicators of a general
attitude or approach but are no substitute for interrogating an artwork on its
own terms. Perhaps, in this case, its
more revealing to talk about how all the work deals in different ways with
situations that are in some way marginal (or marginalised). Most obviously, this includes Shaun Morris’
motorway-dominated landscapes of personal and local memory, painted from his homelands on the
outskirts of Birmingham; Sian Stammers' photographs of an area just outside
Nottingham that’s earmarked for development, and Julian Hughes’ photographic mapping
of the perimeter of the so called ‘National Forest’, (an area between major
Midlands cities which is characterised as much by human activity as it is by
trees).
Photographs By Julian Hughes |
It also applies
to Helen Saunders' heavily manipulated (and fictionalised) photo works and
Wayne Burrows' distinctly psychogeographic video/word projects both dealing with
layers of history within urban zones marginalized by neglect, dilapidation and
changing use. Burrows is particularly
multi-dimensional in this respect, combining pastoral and urban sensibilities
intriguingly to explore Nottingham’s lost Sneinton Fruit Market and attempts to
regenerate the area around the idea of an apple orchard.
Still From Video By Wayne Burrows |
Elsewhere in the
show, Matt Merritt (words), and Philip Harris (images) undertake an
investigation of the changes, through enclosure and road building, of the areas
travelled through by nineteenth century poet John Clare. Whilst this obviously focuses on changing
land use, (in Clare's time and since), it also strikes me that Clare’s own passage through the landscape was
the result of his poverty, mental illness and marginalisation from mainstream society. David Severn also focusses on a population marginalised by economic and political change in photos of the people and places of the now obsolete Nottinghamshire coalfield. Andrew Smith’s writing, translated onto the
wall at an impressive scale, demonstrates his multi-disciplinary approach and
explores ideas of identity and the self within the context of apparently
marginal surroundings. It’s a highly
subjective approach to the idea of place.
Paintings By Shaun Morris (L.) & Video By Wayne Burrows (R). |
‘By The Way’ is a thought-provoking exhibition, both in terms of
individual artists’ work but also as a multi-dimensional exploration of an
overall broad theme from a number of particular, often highly personal,
viewpoints. It also made me think about
the specific ways in which work in different media might be presented. Sadly, I was unable to attend the Private
View and so missed the chance to catch up with Shaun and Andrew, but it was
good to see new work from both that I hadn’t seen before. Shaun’s ‘Black Ground’ painting picks up from where his earlier ‘Stolen Car’ pieces left off and indicates what might be expected
from his forthcoming show in Nuneaton next year [1.]. I also see
that Andrew now has a blog to showcase his writings and photography.
Photographs By Sian Stammers (L) & David Severn (R). |
I was also
interested to visit Bohunk Institute for the first time. It’s a sizable space in Nottingham, within
easy reach of the city centre and typical of the kind of artist-run gallery
spaces that seem to be proliferating in various places at the moment. Any initiative that attempts to expand
opportunities for artists, in times of dwindling public provision and mounting
economic pressures, has to be welcomed.
It also proves that Nottingham is currently leaving my own home of
Leicester in the dust as far as provision for contemporary visual art is
concerned.
‘By The Way’ continues at Bohunk Institute, 2 Fisher Gate Point,
Nottingham, NG1 1GD, until 31 October 2013
[1.]: Shaun’s forthcoming exhibition ‘Black
Highway’ will take place at Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery in January 2014.
I'm glad you made it to the show, Hugh. It would have been nice to see you at the PV, but I knew you would make it at some point. I hope you don't mind, but I nicked your photo of my paintings for my own blog. It's a good space at the BoHunk- I had considered applying for an exhibition there myself.
ReplyDeleteHave enjoyed your recent post about Extreme Urban Exploration and your new paintings. Hope to see you at my own PV in Nuneaton in January
No problem about the photo, Shaun, - you did all the hard work after all. After the event I wished I'd taken better shots of individual pieces rather than concentrating on the overall show but hopefully readers will follow individual artists' links.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely try to get to the Nuneaton PV. I'm sure you'll get some advance notice up when the time comes. Hope you have a productive winter and can afford to keep the studio warm.
Cheers, Hugh