Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
Bearspace, London
13 March – 5 May
Reviewed by: Capucine Perrot
The gallery Bearspace has found a new home in the premises of Renewal based at Greenwich. It is a clever alliance between the five-year-old gallery in Deptford and an agency dedicated to the development and regeneration of south east London. Both have a similar creative drive and common aim to show that this area is very much thriving.
This collaboration begins with ‘Represent’, a series of four solo exhibitions of London-based artists. There is no underlying theme between the shows. However, the works of these different artists are combined to emphasise the potential and dynamism of south east London.
Karin Ludmann’s Close encounters with the third kind gets the ball rolling and brings together several works including four produced especially for the show. By referring to Steven Spielberg’s film, the German artist creates a parallel between the obsession with building mountains in the movie and the artist’s drive and aspiration in the act of creating. It is quite a playful show. We interact with of one the works by pulling three scaled models of mountains made of white papier-mâché, attached by a string. The blue floor of the gallery works well with this exhibition, adding a jazzy touch to the artist’s world.
A couple of weeks later it is Jonathan Purday’s turn to present his new works, a series of paintings that introduces the audience to his vision of our society, from a packed car park to religious processions.
In contrast Bea Denton’s On earth as it is is a return to spirituality. She investigates faith, destiny, confessions and hope, and she asks the spectator to help by hanging a note on the wall with his or her definition of heaven and its location.
Finally, Jasmina Cibic closes the series with Forged Territories, a site-specific installation of her new photographic works. Like in her previous series, the photographs are the remains of some past performances. We are taken through an illuminated stairwell with filtered lighting to a room covered with cardboard. As a centrepiece a bed of various plants is on display and photographs are set about the walls. It is like a waiting room, an intermediary breathing-stop. With this mise-en-scÈne, we recognise the artist’s interest in transitional spaces. The spectator admires these works of unexpected composition, with a dash of ‘exoticism’, showing what seem to be far lands. He or she becomes a voyager. It is an ostrich posed on a grey cube on a deserted beach, a lined-up fanfare in front of a planeł only one year after her postgraduate show at Goldsmiths College, Cibic proposes a work of great quality and offers an alternative perspective of our surroundings.
Writer detail:
Capucine Perrot
Venue detail:
Bearspace
152a Deptford High Street, London SE8 9PQ
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