Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
Brighton
Until 28 February (by appointment).
www.barbararyan.co.uk/hotel+europa/
Reviewed by: Deborah Schultz
Candyland Suite in Hotel Europa is a room in Barbara Ryan’s house in Brighton, and yet, it’s like another world. The space is homely and strange, simultaneously familiar and foreign. The visitor enters the room blindfolded, is seated, then left alone to remove the blindfold and explore the space whilst remaining seated. The room is small and sparse – painted surfaces, words, images, some objects, an exotic smell. However, it is a very pleasant space, and one is tempted to stay in this candy-coloured environment. Wallpaper-type patterns are painted onto the walls – from 1950s shapes to classic fleur-de-lys. Stripes lead the eye around the space. Initially it seems like a dream, in which fragments of images and words reappear in various forms and sequences.
Perhaps Hotel Europa is somewhere in Central Europe, one of those grand imposing nineteenth century piles where mysterious and glamorous visitors take up residence. Candyland Suite contains elements of a land appropriated from faded empires – a coat of arms, a crown, an eagle, an old (Soviet) flag, football bunting. Suggestive phrases appear on the walls and floor – ‘Mattoid’ and ‘Biasa’ are merged into the painted surface in modern vinyl lettering while ‘Chabro’l’, ‘Sucre V’ and ‘Nemours’ are painted in italic script.
Although physically restricted, the viewer is encouraged to open thought processes. Ryan has likened the installation to “an ongoing mathematical equation”. In this way, the room parallels thought processes, combining the varied elements in a perfect balance for a moment. Although the elements appear random, they have been carefully selected and arranged to achieve this balance. The room becomes a virtual synaesthesia of smells, images, out-of-reach textures and suggested sounds constructed out of a wide vocabulary of colours and images from European history.
When ready to leave the room, the visitor rings a small bell on the table, and with the blindfold replaced, the guide leads the visitor from the room. Outside, it all seems like another world, where centuries and geographical spaces freely intersect and overlap. The space of the artist’s mind is a great place to get away from it all.
Writer detail:
Deborah Schultz is a lecturer.
Venue detail:
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