- Venue
- Apartment
- Location
As you approach Apartment; a sixties tower block in central Manchester the feeling is one of slight trepidation, where am I going? Whose flat is this? The somewhat drab exterior contrasts starkly with the interior white clean lines and minimal living. The artwork is placed within the flat nestling amongst the possessions of the inhabitant; Paul Harfleet, who does a superb job of making the visitor feel at home; being offered a cup of tea in a gallery is somewhat unusual and the gesture is additionally poignant in light of the work currently on show.
Martine Myrup was selected by Apartment organisers Paul Harfleet and Hilary Jack from Apartment’s recent invitation for proposals for a solo show. Myrup is a Danish artist based in Glasgow and has created two subtle interventions in the space. The first placed in the kitchen is a milk spill, fashioned into the shape of Antarctica the precision and competence of this, is extremely pleasing. The whiteness of the milk intended to evoke the coolness of the location it depicts sits well on an augmented blue work surface, the artist here is commenting on the need for mankind’s desire to explore, map and delineate the world around us. As you look down upon the representation of the frozen continent, notions of the sublime come to mind, the vastness of the planet summoned in a domestic setting evokes a gratifying poetic reverie.
The second untitled work is a series of books on exploration cunningly placed in order to create a mountain range from the mountains featured on the spine of each book this deceptively simple endeavour echoes the need to search for meaning in the world. The books placed on the top shelf in the bedroom hark back to the artist’s location whilst contemplating the work; she was teetering on the top of a ladder in a second hand bookshop reaching for mountaineering books.
The romantic conceptualism transcends the nature of this particular artist led space in a quietly confidant way, the domestic setting acting as an intellectual backdrop to the work not a hindrance to the viewing of it. Apartment is now in its third year; comparable spaces may be winding down after this much time, not so Apartment.
All in all a beautiful show well worth the effort to see.
Jimmy Holloway
for more on the show and artist visit:
www.apartmentmanchester.blogspot.com
Jimmy Holloway is a Manchester based writer
