MANIFESTED SPATIALLY.NEGOTIATED CONTEXTUALLY. MEDIATED PUBLICLY.
Gallery visit at Levinsky gallery, Plymouth
MARINER
A painted ship upon a painted ocean
Inspired by language and rich visual metaphor Mariner retells an old tale for
the 21st Century, taking as its starting point one of the most influential
poems in the English language The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by English
poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834).
Featuring 15 artists Mariner showcases a series of new
commissions and artworks that consider the contemporary resonance of the
poem, including Zubenelgenubi a new film by Serena Korda; a bespoke
installation by Mary Evans; new sculptural works by Grace Schwindt, a
new multi-sensory presentation of the Raft of Medusa by Lucy + Jorge
Orta and special contributions and selected work from: Nicola Bealing,
Justin Brice Guariglia, Vija Celmins, Angela Cockayne, Tacita Dean,
Naomi Frears, Ellen Gallagher & Edgar Cleijne, Nadav Kander, Linder,
Joe Lyward and Richard Wentworth.
We were looking for three elements. How space is being used, the contextuality of the exhibition, and how it is mediated publicly. When you enter the gallery, the theme itself is conveyed effortlessly through the works displayed, although the contextual element was not easily communicated. The artist statement for certain pieces was very concise as they concentrated on the artists and shows done in the past. The final quality/presentation of the works was of a high standard, especially the work titled Water II, Water XVIII that were of a big proportion, which enables the audience to step off to the image and indulge in the dark, slow motion of the sea. In my opinion, the curation of the show was not imaginative as there was a lot of potentialities to explore and experiment with the concept of the exhibition.
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