Recently I visited and reviewed the 2014 Liverpool Biennial for Turning Point West Midlands.
You can read a sneak peak of my text below.
“Norma Jeane’s solar-powered vomiting ice-machine is another stand-out work. Every once in a while ice-cubes are ejected on to the floor of the entrance hall, leaving an embarrassingly wet puddle for visitors to walk over. A direct and very funny work.”
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“The James McNeill Whistler exhibition at the Bluecoat strikes an entirely different chord. Delicate and exquisitely detailed watercolours and pencil drawings may not be the most fashionable of artworks, but they are, to me at least, just perfect. The display is particularly enchanting. It features rooms hung at their doorway with gold and grey floor-length velvet curtains. These add a touch of decadence to the visitor experience. One of the major attractions is a golden fabric canopy, suspended almost chandelier-like in one of the rooms. Whistler designed this piece (the one on display is a facsimile of course) to diffuse the light in his exhibitions and employed similar curtains in his exhibition designs too.”
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“I especially was struck by Katie Hayward’s ‘Pillars II,’ a huge pair of inflatable legs placed over the top of two fans. The legs shoot straight up in the air, and wobble and wave constantly as the fans animate the chubby thighs, knobbly knees and funny little toes. Hayward has a series of delicate drawings showing nearby on a similar theme.”
You can read the full review here:http://www.tpwestmidlands.org.uk/artist-development-events/
During my visit I also reviewed the current exhibition at Open Eye Gallery ‘Not all Documents are Records’ for ‘this is tomorrow’ magazine. The review will be published on the site soon.
Anneka French 