Robert Breer at Baltic

When first walking into the gallery space I was greeted by a woman telling me to be careful where I step as lots of people had been standing on the artwork. When I looked around I could see how people would step on the artwork but the thought of people stepping on a piece of foam with hundreds of cocktail sticks sticking out of it amused me, especially since the pieces were slowly moving. I rarely read the programme before I see an installation because I figure that I'll see what it's about when I see it and if I want more information I'll look afterwards, but I normally make up my own narrative anyway. So, I didn't read the programme and didn't know the pieces would be moving, then I saw a white dome which was almost my height and about five times my radius, it was heading towards me at snail speed. I thought I was seeing things but no, after closer inspection it was moving! I went round everything and stooped to see if they were moving, they were. Even what appeared to be a wall was moving. It was hilarious seeing people share my shock as they too realised that they were slowly being chased by seemingly inanimate objects.

Very fun but a small grievance I had was that some of the pieces were from the 60's and 70's, and it showed! There were visible bumps and scratches which could have benefited from some attention to make them more appealing. Other than the need for paint, I greatly enjoyed this exhibition.

Almost forgot to mention the sketches, if you get a chance to go, don't forget to look at the back of the gallery as there's amusing sketches, sketches that I deeply wanted to take home!

Enjoyment: 90%

Nerys Johnson “Flower Imagery Over Time” & Aether and Hemera “The Colour of Phi”

From Saturday 19th March until Monday 2nd May. (2011)

In the DLI (Durham Light Infantry) art gallery there’s a retrospective exhibition of Nerys Johnson’s work between 1970 and 1989. The exhibition looks at the progression of Nerys’ style by focusing on the work that she based on three types of flowers; Tulips, Lilies and Sunflowers. Nerys was terribly affected by arthritis since she was a child and sadly died following an operation in 2001. She said that flowers were a major source of inspiration for her work because “They grow, change, decay and metamorphose.”

Running alongside the Nerys Johnson exhibition is Aether and Hemera’s “The Colour of Phi” This is a light installation of coloured wires crossing over and creating patterns in the light. The light pattern is based on the Golden Ratio which is used by architects, artists and designers but is also found in flower petals and pine cones. Aether and Hemera (more commonly known as Claudio and Gloria) are both Italian and, now based in North-east England, they specialise in new media and lighting. 

Nerys’ style is very strong, it looks like she dived into her paintings without looking where she was going and it just worked. The thick stalks of the plants and the bright colours made her paintings seem child-like but they were done very skilfully, she seemed to know exactly when to finish painting, without adding neeless finishing touches that often spoil contemporary work. I thought the film of Nerys painting and talking about her art was very eye opening, I didn’t know very much about Nerys before yesterday but I felt like I got to know her though her work.

On it’s own, I loved Aether and Hemera’s piece. It was intriguing and I stared at it for ages  because it felt as if it was moving though it was still or like it was flashing even though the light was constant. Using the Golden Ratio couldn’t have made this piece any easier to make! Everything seemed very precise and I was impressed by the piece, though it would have been much stronger if the room was darker, a black sheet draped over the door would have sufficed...

 Individually I liked most of Nerys’ work but I think that if the whole show was curated differently it could have been really amazing. Nerys’ work was packed onto the walls, this didn’t compliment her style which is immature and childish yet boldly confident with a clear idea. With all of the work crammed into the walls it made the pieces weaker and less striking. Nerys herself used to curate exhibitions in a similar style but I think she took more care in which pieces were on the line that you pay most attention to. It would have been really brave and bold if the curator had gone against Nerys’ curating style and put only a few amazing pieces in the exhibition or played with the composition. Nerys’ playful art could have been been reflected in the way that it was put on the walls but sadly, it wasn’t and it seemed to make the individual pieces less special.

Also, the link between the two exhibitions seems strained, Nerys painted and drew flowers and the light was constructed like the golden ratio of a petal’s anatomy. In my oppinion, it’s a great shame that the two shows weren’t more integrated as they could have really complimented each other.

I felt quite out of place in the gallery space as it felt more like going to a church coffee morning than the opening of a new art show. The old socks-and-sandals crowd agitated me. It seemed as if they were more bothered by the free coffee and cakes than the skill of the artists. The adjective “marvellous” was extremely overused and a woman actually commented that I “lower the average age of this gathering by about 20%!” With a bit of advertising around Durham university or some cafes there would have been some more young people who would have probably used more interesting adjectives than “marvellous!”



Nerys’ work: 3/5
Aether and Hermera’s work: 4/5
Curating: 1/5
Gallery: 2.5/5


Overall enjoyment: 55% 

Northern Soil.

Saturday 6th of November was the opening of the newest exhibition, Northern Soil, in Allenheads Contemporary Arts which was formerly Allenheads’ Post Office but has been converted into a lovely little art gallery.
     Allenheads is a rural village where it seems to be autumn all of the time. I’ve never been to the old Post Office without being thoroughly wrapped up in numerous winter coats, scarves, hats and gloves; it seems to be the permanent dress code. In recent years Allenheads has become infested with art, the sleepy village has really been brought to life by the culture and seems to be embracing it.
As we walked into the entrance of the white modest country building we were greeted by one of the artists and offered a selection of delicious canapés and refreshments. In the downstairs gallery, which is quite a small room, the atmosphere of excitement and enthusiasm was very welcoming as were the artists themselves.
     The pieces that first caught my eye were two huge mural paintings (made up of a series of smaller paintings on canvasses) by Bridget Kennedy, part of her ‘Where does North become South’ installation (which also included two pieces of sculpture in marble and granite) The murals were beside one another, one was black with white ink and the other was white with black ink. I spoke to Bridget and she explained that the installation was exploring the divide between north and south within Northumbria, she described the murals as “large reversed ‘painting by numbers’ pictures” because she had taken photographs of the Northumbrian countryside, edited it to  find the colour of each pixel and then written number of the colour onto her painting. This process produced a very intriguing outcome, from a few metres away the paintings do look slightly like a conceptual monotone landscape, then on closer inspection the words and numbers become clear and seem very uniformed, precise and clear, the complete opposite to the natural, wild and rugged landscapes of the Northumbria that I was driven through on my way to Allenheads.
     The next piece that I saw was a collaborative piece between Alan Smith and Phil Ogg, they had worked together to create 100 minutes of film and sound. Just being able to experience the picture and sound combination was an enjoyable experience but it was when I was able to talk to Alan that I was amazed by the process. Alan explained that he and Phil, who was kind enough to greet me at the door,   had collaborated on this piece but in a very strange way. The whole 100 minutes were made ten minutes at a time, Alan made ten minutes of picture, Phil made ten minutes of audio, they didn’t discuss the content or their reactions when they were able to see the ten minute fragments with picture and audio. This process produced an interesting result, once I knew about the process I paid more attention to how well the audio complimented the film considering they could have clashed so easily!
I wasn’t very taken by Paul Grimmer’s pieces; Chimera and Transhumation. One was a video in a museum case and the other was a large circular digital print. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Paul Grimmer, maybe if I had spoken with him about his work and process of making it, I would be able to properly understand its meaning and how it connected to the other pieces being shown – at the moment, it’s hard to see a clear connection.
     The last piece that I saw was Tod Hanson’s “Tectonic Dish” it was an amazing piece. From afar it resembles antique china in white and blue but with closer inspection the background wasn’t white and the blue pattern was an allegorical map of Allenheads. It was a very intriguing piece that provoked lots of conversation and I found myself spending more time inspecting this piece than I did with any of the others and I came away still feeling like I’d missed something.
     Overall, I think that Northern Soil is an interesting show in an interesting environment; I really enjoyed hearing from the artists and getting to know exactly what the pieces were about. Coming away from the small, quaint and secluded gallery space I felt as if I’d just shared something very private. Part of me genuinely enjoyed feeling this way because it made my experience more special and intimate but another part of me felt that the show was too private. Without having the chance to talk to the artists and being told the process and thoughts of the pieces I wouldn’t have known what they were actually about. I think that if each piece had a detailed description of the process then everybody would be able to decide their own meaning of the art and it would feel as if we’re allowed in to the small world of Allenheads Contemporary Arts.

By Poppy Jarratt.