- Venue
- University of Teesside
- Location
- North East England
Art students the world over march towards their degree show from the first day that they set foot in their chosen academic establishment. Fully aware that they have this self-defining moment ahead, they try to carve a path throughout the following years wherein a voice, a style, a thread or even just a medium stands out above the clamour of the others. They build up the belief in themselves as an artist based upon the search and recognition of this voice, yet still know that they will be 'marked' academically to attain the degree they have been studying for at the end of that journey of discovery. The 2009 graduates of the University of Teesside BA (Hons) Fine Art started their journey as students of Cleveland College of Art and Design, transferring to new buildings within Teesside when it took control of the course in 2007. They have encountered a change in institution and in buildings over their course and it struck me that to an extent they may still be suffering for the uneasy gap that exists between the needs of academia to assess work and the expectations of the visitor to an art exhibition. This strange duality affects all degree shows but was particularly marked in the first part of Teesside's show, held on the 2nd floor of the Constantine Building. Teesside advertised a Creative Arts Week encompassing the whole of their School of Arts and Media. It was not apparent until a small poster outside of the Middlesbrough Tower (through which access is gained to the Constantine Building) that the Fine Art show was entitled 'can you'. By following a sparse trail of photocopied A4 sheets bearing these words, through many double doors, unfriendly academic corridors and a few flights of stairs, I was eventually able to find the first location for the show. Facing the final flight of stairs was hung a large rag rug created by Jane Swinbank. Entitled Shagpile this vibrant, colourful work loosely depicted a scantily clad female in coquettish pose. Unfortunately, like the other works in this corridor setting, it was displayed on a wall as if it were a display board (indeed, vying for attention from several display boards and cabinets) and certainly not to its best advantage. Another of Swinbank’s works, Dirty Bedspread, a suggestive female figure sewn in patchwork onto a white duvet cover and wall hung, displayed in a studio room setting fared better. It reminded me of an Emin print married with her blanket works but had a cleaner, more commercial edge. Other memorable works in this part of the show included paintings by Jan Teasdale (large canvases with indistinct shapes suggesting street scenes and ‘fleeting moments’), John-Robert Bowes’ 3d stag’s head (Keep On Running) fabricated from screen printed text mounted on MDF and Jan Shaw’s driftwood installation (The Stolen Generations) reminiscent of Cornelia Parker’s famous exploded shed. However, the spaces seemed very crowded which made appreciation of the work difficult and some works merged into others by different artists, casting the whole into an unfavourable light. Similarly, a multimedia installation was not being run which made for an empty experience and, beyond the control of the university admittedly, persistent rain spoiled the effect of a sculptural sundial by Kevin Twidale in the nearby gardens. The next part of the show was held in the brand new Athena Building, home of design courses at the university. Again, there was little in the way of direction and not even the photocopied sheets of paper to direct the viewer to the Fine Art rooms – one on the 2nd floor and the other on the 3rd floor. These rooms were less like converted classrooms and more akin to modern gallery spaces. There seemed quite a disparity between the amounts of work exhibited by different artists – some had whole walls, with work hung exhibition style to fill them and others had a partial wall or cramped space between two others. A large multi media painting by Lesley Armitage, ‘The Road Not Taken’(taken from a Robert Frost poem) appealed to me greatly. In any other company, her other pieces would have been remarkable but this piece gazed back at the viewer with a magnified Pollock-style yellow splodge surrounded by crystalline burst bubbles and glutinous black lines, highlighted with small splashes of red. It is difficult to describe an abstract painting, but this one held the attention and has stayed with me since. It was a piece with definite presence. There was an interesting element to the pastel, chalk and charcoal drawings of Jeffrey Turner, their nebulous quality reminiscent of his painterly namesake and Sarah Brown’s colourful painting, Havana Beach, was luminous when viewed from the door along the length of the studio – no mean feat on a grey Middlesbrough day. It will be interesting to see which path her painting style takes as she develops her relationship with colour further. Leanne Jackson’s sculpture We are waiting here for catastrophe had far more scope than the catalogue close up picture of one box interior suggested, with the piece being comprised of fifteen boxes, each with a brightly painted interior housing miniature scenes of unsettling ‘normality’. Teesside class of 2009 has around 30 graduating students and has been hampered along the way by elements beyond their control. It would be easy to dwell upon the negatives involved in the exhibition organisation and associated trappings surrounding this show but there was evidence of futures to be found in the labyrinthine buildings of the University of Teesside. A degree show is the first step in many respects and several in this show may be in line for a considerable journey.
