“Then there was a long silence”
I have, as you can fathom for yourselves from the chronological chasm in my postings, been away. My last post on this particular blog was a year ago to the month, in fact. It was also one of my first. The “great ambitions” this blog held were left, it seems, to linger without a voice.
But life does not always play the game fairly, and sometimes we must simply swallow our pride, accept our misfortune and move on.
So, despite an incredibly challenging 2012 involving a creative breakdown, the loss of a job, the loss of some things more personal than that and, to top it all off, the defacing of a Rothko mural by a homeless Russian artist, I am here, re-emerging like a slightly bedraggled phoenix from a recently dampened fire and, in the words of Lewis Carroll’s White Rabbit, “I’m late”. So let’s get on with it, shall we?
Sheffield based artist Richard Bartle created a truly awe-inspiring exhibition, which launched on the 15 December 2012 and continued until recently (23 February 2013) at 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe. It will then, as far as I’m aware, be re-opening in Dublin at the Irish Museum of Contemporary Art on the 2nd of April. The title of the collective works, Deities at the bottom of the garden, is a playful-cum-political heading and it sums up double-edged qualities you are likely to find when viewing the work. Twelve minute, intricately hand-made garden sheds, each containing a religious temple of worship, sit silently in space, resting on their very own shrine – the plinth; a homage to the contemporary idols of the art world.
Yet beyond their beauty lurks a complex dialogue. The sheds converse with one another, uncovering the similarities and conflicts that emerge between the aesthetics of their religious traditions, and challenging the viewer to confront his/her own idea of personal vs. public faith. In a world where tolerance is regarded as the gateway to civilization, where wars are fought over doctrine and land, where people are persecuted for believing in a higher power and the ever prominent concept of ‘individual faith’ is favoured, this show provides an incredibly refreshing, honest window into the soul of art.
I wrote the text for the catalogue accompanying this exhibition, and after several months contemplating the multilayered, multifaceted surfaces of Bartle’s work, I am still surprised by the wonder of its scope, poetry and finesse. Seeing the exhibition in the unique space of 20-21 Gallery, itself a former church, I felt a shiver run down my spine. After years of painstaking, committed labour, the faithful artist could see his vision fulfilled – it was a privileged moment to bear witness to.
I would be interested to know how the work fairs on tour, and if the necessary tensions between its physical and philosophical form remain intact.
In the mean time, please visit the press release for further information:
http://www.axisweb.org/artwork.aspx?WORKID=109317
Or purchase a catalogue, itself a carefully crafted relic of the show:
http://shop.sitegallery.org/product/deities-at-the-bottom-of-the-garden-by-richard-bartle
Read more about the catalogue, including an excerpt of my essay Being and essay on the subject of Deities at the bottom of the garden, on my website:
http://helencocker.com/2013/03/02/bartle-catalogue/
