Following the stairs, Jil Moore’s glimmering vessels, containing the floating child, the swirl of light, traffic and the reflections of yourself, the streets, bridges and tower outside the goldfish bowl of the gallery. Drawn into this shimmering world within a world, somehow the viewer becomes suspended between the work and its reflections – the rush of the hour.
From this halfway landing you can see the rest of the paintings by Grennan&Sperandio. How colourful is this exhibition! So much colour which I almost hadn’t noticed till now! Youre reminded that these paintings have been created by a circuitous route including being shipped from China. That red paper rushing down from the ceiling; the over blue and bottle grass green in the paintings, and now as you turn to the downstairs rear gallery, the acid colours of the lights within William Titley’s dustbin Monument, with its tinkling water and foggers blowing whisps of steam out into the space. The mood has changed, gradually from a light, to rather dark, rather unsettling back alley way kind of dream.
You see the TV screens and some old chairs, some grim furniture set against that midnight wall – they are a bit too close for comfort. Its some interior, domestic place, the walls between the houses have been dissolved and we are all in a circle but in isolation, focussed on the individuals discussion of TV and culture on Hafsah Naib’s TV.
Turning the corner we are finally in the dark. Father on my Rightside, Mother on My Left, by Jo Lewington at once throws me into a dilemma. Is what I see beautiful? The movement, the skill in each job, the work worn hands, naturally flowing; or is it a stark portrayal of the human industrial condition? In the title, there is the hint of a potential for hope, to some feeling of supportiveness, guidance, cooperation. As in Jil’s containers the question comes back – are we all subtly directed, and constrained by the flow of the city, or like the stalwarts remembered in Titley’s Monument and the individuals in the Richardson’s diagrams and Wilson’s games, is it worth getting stuck in and trying to make change happen? Is a community network a way to do that? Or are there other forces at play….
How will other people interpret the work? How will I find out? Here, the writing and feedback of others will come in. Spending so long in the process of making, curating, planning, negotiating about the projects – how to stand back a little – is it possible to?
Reviewers, members of the public, artists – we’re having a reception this afternoon for community group members and people who work for CN4M, so that will be one part of the feedback.
