- Venue
- University Campus Suffolk - Ipswich
- Location
- East England
EXIT: BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree Show, University Campus Suffolk
Jo Mayhew
How do you enter a show called EXIT? I am exiting from the real world and entering into the realms of this years graduating Fine Art students, arriving just in time to see the culmination of their three year long journey. The 2011 Fine Art Degree Show on display at the School of Arts and Humanities, UCS, Ipswich contains a diverse assortment of practices all addressing themes relevant to contemporary culture.
Craig Hudson’s installation entitled Death of the Master Chef (2011) portrays figures both larger than the human form and some smaller more intimate figures all seemingly struggling with life itself. A large Neanderthal-type figure stoops in the middle of the room; an Ann Summers Rampant Rabbit protrudes from his body as he screams in agony or ecstasy. He is hunched over, contorted either with physical pain or the weight of his own problems. The bright unnatural colours of Hudson’s figures are in direct opposition to their cave man-like composition, as if they are trying their hardest to project a friendly persona but fail as their disproportionate forms scare others away. Hudson states that these dysfunctional figures are trying to fit in, to be accepted in a world that is resistant to them.
Libbi Meade’s practice instantly raises a smile, as you first lay eyes on the oversize knitting needles casually leaning against the white wall of the studio space, it’s as if a giant grandmother has just left them resting there while she makes a cup of tea, but she will be back soon. Upon entering Meade’s space you are confronted with a chair made from a number of jumpers stitched together, stretching up and attached to the ceiling entitled Mr. Tickle (2011), this piece is both intimidating and inviting, you want to sit down but are apprehensive as you feel at any moment the chair will spring to life and fulfill the name that the title threatens. Another inviting piece is a chaise-lounge decorated with multi-coloured knitted breasts, with again another amusing title Tell Me About Your Mother (2011). Maybe if I lie on it for long enough the artist will come in with a thoughtful expression and a box of tissues. But looking past the humorous titles and physical attributes of the artwork, you see that her practice is a sensitive and considered depiction of motherhood and through her work the artist is providing us with the space to reflect on our own relationships.
Three mattresses hang on the wall in Holly Herwedine’s exhibition space, each stained with the purple residue of where her body has once lain. The work entitled Living Proof (2011) explores the notions of absence and existence and highlights how they surround us; she is making us aware that we all leave our mark, wherever we go, without realising it. Herwedine states that the colour purple represents loss, and her choice to use it in her work is interesting because it is such an unnatural tone that it therefore makes her marks more resonant. There is a juxtaposition between this work and a projection piece that is screened directly onto the studio floor. As a viewer you become strangely precious about it, not wanting to step on it, but if you did happen to stand on it nothing would happen, you would not make a difference and leave your purple trace behind unlike the bodily forms on the mattresses that loom at you from the wall.
Putting these larger blockbuster pieces aside, one of my favourite works was by Emma Phillips with her piece entitled Some of the Contents of my Room (Documented on my Face Like Tumours) (2011). These photographs intrigued me because they are both humorous and yet contain a terrible sadness at the same time. The work consists of three photographs of the artist herself with various items from her bedroom stuck to her face with masking tape. The very premise of this is amusing; as you imagine her struggling to fit the items onto her face, yet at the same time there is a sense of sadness coming from the eyes of her Merrick-esque form, as she solemnly stares back at you from the photographs. She is clearly extremely concerned with her personal belongings, and with devising the perfect way to create an order through the documentation of them. Another of her works entitled Audit (2011) consists of forms of documentation of her possessions, some are gifts from friends and family and some are every day items, but each is given equal importance in the typed cream file hanging from the wall by a bulldog clip.
The newspaper style publication that accompanies the exhibition can work as an artwork in itself; it gives each student their own double page spread to do with what they want. The result should be a messy exhibition handout with each individuals work fighting for attention, yet instead they have achieved a thoughtful and intriguing print. Instead of dryly telling you what each artwork is about, it becomes an extension of each of his or her practices, as if providing an insightful snapshot into each person’s sketchbook.
For more information about EXIT, visit: http://exitdegreeshow.wordpress.com/
