Damián Ortega at The Fruitmarket Gallery

The current exhibition at The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh left me a little underwhelmed. For an artist who is known as "one of the most prominent artists of the new Mexican generation" I found the work to be rather unoriginal and dated.

"The works in the exhibition are predominantly made from clay, the most elemental of materials. Ortega uses clay to form waves, sculpt icebergs and to track the eroding power of a river on a sequence of plains made from brick."

  

The hanging clay blobs reminded me vaguely of Rosie Hughes-Jones' degree show exhibition at Glasgow School of Art in 2008, but without the amazingly aluring scent that made Rosie's work a real sensory experience. 

It also reminded me of Cornelia Parker's installation 'Cold Dark Matter', but without the sense of action that is so implicit in Parker's installation.

   

Again, the clay forms on the floor could be likened to Anthony Gormley's installation Field, but the scale of Ortega's work did not create the grandeur that Gormley managed to achieve with Field.

For more information about the exhibition visit

http://www.fruitmarket.co.uk/