C103
Review
Cork: Crawford Open 3
Frances Donnelly: Red
Carpet, 2001, oil on
canvas, 50 x 40 x 1 cm; courtesy
Crawford Municipal Art Gallery |
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The theme for Crawford Open 3, which was recently at
the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork, was 'beauty and
corruption'. This year fourteen artists, most of whom are
emerging and recent graduates, were selected on their ability
to "explore the theme's varied definitions and showcase accessible
yet innovative and original work." Much of the work is centred
around the body. Some artists, like Frances Donnelly, Katie
Owens and Eleanor Phillips, dealt directly with corruption
issues regarding the beauty industry, and for others the reference
was oblique or incidental. In the Juneau Projects' video piece,
for example, the video depicts a nondescript image of a figure
rowing in a dinghy, whilst playing Metamorphosen by
Strauss on a submerged walkman.
It was easy to spot the emerging
works by the accompanying statements, some of which were rather
eager and grandiose compared with the pieces. The artists
seemed anxious to engage with contemporary issues and media,
which didn't always come across convincingly as empirical
or experienced. This is not necessarily a criticism, as much
of the work was nonetheless rather fresh and engaging.
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Una Quigley:
Sleeptalk, 2002, sound installation;
courtesy Crawford Municipal Art Gallery
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Also, some works were more polished.
Una Quigley's sound piece, Sleeper, was one example,
as were the collaborative photographs by Alex Walsh and Cian
McConn, and the video by Declan Rooney. Quigley's piece is
a recording of a sleeptalker, which was installed in the corridors
of the Crawford. The lack of gimmicks and the frugal presentation
of the piece enhanced my voyeuristic and uncomfortable experience
of listening to the artist's unconscious monologue.
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Alex Walsh/Cian
McConn: Artists' statement, 2002, colour photographs;
courtesy Crawford Municipal Art Gallery
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Walsh and McConn presented a series
of four photographs of a young man in averted pose gazing
out of a window. Its accompanying hand-written statement describes
the artists' decision to discontinue working on the collaboration,
which had allegedly become problematic and thus 'dishonest'.
The work's seeming ambiguity cleverly offers a multiplicity
of responses, ranging from comic to tragic.
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Declan
Rooney: Minotaur, 2002, video projection, dimensions
variable;
courtesy Crawford Municipal Art Gallery
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Rooney's Minotaur was as good
a piece of performance-based video as any by the top practitioners
of this genre, in which the artist subjects the body body
to extreme discomfort and sometimes pain. Minotaur
is a visually beautiful close up shot of the artist's head
as he attempts to breathe through a tight plastic bag. Without
the intrusion of sound, it short-circuits the anticipated
claustrophobic response.
Some of the pieces were more interesting
in terms of potential, rather than delivery. For example,
I would like to see a remake of Linda Quinlan's Membrain,whose
imagery and camera work was rather beautiful at times. In
general, however, the piece was too heavy on superfluous narrative.
Also, Alan Phelan and Jim Dingilian's piece Self-Rescue
Mechanism was conceptually strong, but their use of false
hair (representing hair from auto-erotic victims) flattened
its potential shock value.
In general, Crawford Open 3 reminded
me of a yBa show, with a strong emphasis on concept and new
media. As an 'inclusivist', and particularly because I am
familiar with many strands of contemporary Irish image-making,
I would question why the the show contained only one drawing
and one painting. Are works in traditional media inherently
unlikely to qualify for this exhibition's curatorial brief?
As an open-submission exhibition, however, this is hardly
a foregone conclusion. The unpredictable meeting of selectors
and selection is what distinguishes Crawford Open, and Crawford
Open 3 presented an interesting, if flawed, overview of new
Irish work.
Suzy O'Mullane is a Cork-based
artist and co-founder of Art Trail.
Crawford Open 3, Crawford Municipal
Gallery of Modern Art, Cork, Dec 2002 - Jan 2003
