Art visit to Middlesbrough

It's been a while since I have been to Middlesbrough, and in that time a number of new spaces have opened as art galleries and the art scene seems to have developed. I went to check out a few exhibitions at a mixture of familiar and less familiar spaces.

Platform A
GUTTER WORDS
Jo Hamill



"Gutter Words is a complex book work and the culmination of a 10 year enquiry which aims to explore the sculptural space of language, the book and its physical connection to the body.



Working with an edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, Hamill systematically obliterated the words of Joyce but carefully retained those words positioned closest to the gutter – the technical term used to describe the central margin of a bound page.

Gutter Words, is also presented in the form of a book. Hamill explores the relationship between the book, as a sculptural space and the role the body plays in activating this physical space. Notable here is how design and typographic terminology is so entrenched in bodily references. Header, footer, body-copy, the arm of a ‘K’, the crotch of a ‘Y’, the foot of a ‘T’, the ear of a ‘G’, the shoulder of an ‘R’ and so on. As is the architectural scaffolding of Joyce’s schema which underpins the structure of Ulysses; kidney, genitals, heart, lungs, esophagus, brain, blood, ear. etc."

The most interesting part of this artwork for me was the seemingly unconnected series of words that were paired due to their position in the gutter. However, it was lacking in terms of visual appeal.





Hamill chose to display the vinyl words in two vertical columns, starting with those from the first page in the book. The simplicity of the two columns effectively signified the gutters. They began on the right wall and spanned the length of the gallery along the floor and up the left wall. I felt distracted by the additional column that had been added on one of the side walls as it diverted my attention.

http://www.platformagallery.net/index.php/shows/gutter-words




The Auxillary
LEGACY - 50 years of Painting in the Tees Valley

"The exhibition brings together the work of 30 artists that tells a story of painting in Tees Valley spanning 50 years, tracing a lineage of painters who have influenced and supported each other in various ways. Established and emerging practices sit side by side to acknowledge the impact and importance of painters who have taught, mentored and championed each other marking a continuum of knowledge sharing, generosity and trust across generations."

https://www.artrabbit.com/organisations/the-auxiliary-middlesbrough

It was refreshing to see such a mixture of paintings and styles and recognise the strength of painting within the Tees Valley.

After spending a couple of hours in galleries without heating (on what seemed like the coldest day of the year), I was relieved to arrive at MIMA to defrost before returning to the studio in Newcastle.



MIMA
Mikhail Karikis
For Many Voices

For Many Voices is Mikhail Karikis's first large-scale survey exhibition presented at MIMA (UK). In each of the 5 rooms was a different audiovisual installation. I was particularly moved by Sounds from Beneath.

"Sounds from Beneath (2011-2012) centers around a sound work for which the artist Mikhail Karikis asked a community of a former coal miners’ choir to recall and vocalise the industrial sounds of a working coal mine, which they used to hear when they worked in the pits. Karikis located the former Kentish coalmine where the men used to work, and upon completing the sound work he invited the artist Uriel Orlow to collaborate on a video which depicts the desolate colliery brought back to life through the miners’ song. The sunken mine transforms into an amphitheater resonating sounds of former underground explosions, mechanical clangs cutting the coal-face, wailing alarms and shovels scratching the earth, all sung by Snowdown Colliery Male Voice Choir grouping in formations reminiscent of picket lines."

http://www.mikhailkarikis.com/2015/07/20/sounds-from-beneath-video/

The sound alone was powerful; but the vastness of the landscape featured in the video emphasised the emptiness that the miners could have felt when they were no longer working together down the coal mine. Such textured and layered sounds would only be possible to achieve when in a group, and seeing the men united and singing together emphasised their collective spirit.

Ursula Von Rydingsvard at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

sculpture, materiality, form, scale, mark-making, carving, space, rock formations, cracks, creases, caves, caverns, layers, fossils, compression, wood, cedar, physical 

bowls, containers, dishes, pattern, vessels, drawing, installation, hole,

framing, frame, ring, link, circle, life, age, bark, 

Ai Weiwei in the Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Despite being unable to travel due to Government-imposed passport restrictions, Ai Weiwei has developed an exhibition at the Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

His work, which draws attention to human rights abuses and his experience of the Chinese Government treating him unfairly, is by its nature, very thought provoking and so is well suited to this quiet, contemplative space.

The Iron Tree (2013) which stands outside the Chapel is made from numerous sections that have been attached together using a traditional Chinese method.

Inside the chapel, the installation Fairytale - 1001 Chairs (2007-2014), and sculptures, Ruyi (2012), Lantern (2014) and Map of China (2009), all make one question the individuals position in relation to others in society.

Daniel Buren - Catch as catch can : works in situ at BALTIC

Approaching the BALTIC from the front, one can see the coloured diamonds on the windows of the facade, but when inside the building one experiences the wonderful effect that the coloured light has on the interior. 

Walls become bathed in various tones of different intensities depending on the weather and time of the day. It really changes with each encounter, prompting the visitor to return multiple times.

Likewise, the artwork on level 4 is very much determined by the time of day and weather conditions. 

At the time I visited, there was a warm, pinkish glow to the space, and with few people, there was a calm and peaceful atmosphere which made me think of being in a cathedral. The lights in the ceiling even made me feel that I was in a church due to their cross shape.

However, it may be completely different if the space was crowded with people and there was a lot of noise. This may be likened more to a busy city centre with the bright lights from advertising boards.

There is a noise, a rhythm, and an energy to the work, created by the patterned lights.

The wooden structures that are positioned around the gallery blend in well with the  wooden floor and  the mirrors make these structures part of their surroundings.

I enjoyed finding surprising areas where rainbows are found and subtle light patterns are created, such as in the image above.

I admire how the large gallery space has been used. Although there are a number of free standing structures around the floorspace, and there is a lot going on with the bright coloured reflections from the windows, it does not feel cluttered, nor bare. 

Downstairs, Buren exhibits a number of works exploring form, space, light and colour. 

I found the simplest three-dimensional paintings most interesting as they were not appearing to be fancy or overworked. There is an element of surprise when viewing the work as ones eyes try to make sense of what they are seeing when walking around the work.

Having never seen luminous fibre optic works before, this way of working and the material itself interested me, but I found myself trying to work out how the material works more than appreciating the actual work itself.