C111 review

Hangzhou: Clive Murphy at Gallery 411

Hangzhou city, capital of China’s Zhejiang province, two hours south of Shanghai, is the location of Gallery 411, the city’s sole contemporary art gallery, which is run by Irish artist and curator James Ryan. This gallery space offers a valuable platform for the city’s burgeoning young artists as well as presenting examples of current trends in contemporary Western practice by hosting international exhibitions. Belfast-based artist Clive Murphy’s solo exhibition, in which he exhibited a series of new works, was the end result of a four-month residency in Hangzhou.

The central space in the gallery was dominated by a large, blimp-like construction created from multicoloured parasol coverings and industrial polythene held together by red-and-white-striped adhesive tape and attached to a trolley-mounted motor.

Clive Murphy: They're going to take over the world, 2004, mixed–media performing sculpture; courtesy the artist

The piece sat in the middle of the main space, appearing quite flaccid and forlorn, surrounded by a number of bemused onlookers. Spontaneously, the motorised fan erupted into action, noisily infusing the work with life until the barrel-shaped balloon stood tight, erect and fully inflated upon its umbilical stalk. Not content with this, the inflated construction then proceeded to abruptly shift its hulking mass, jostling the audience about the gallery with deceptive agility in an unpredictable and somewhat intimidating manner, driven on by the constant force of air being pumped into its interior by the large electric motor which it in turn pulled randomly about the gallery floor. Then as suddenly as it had burst to life the motor wound down and the piece began to deflate, reverting back to its previous dormant state, only to repeat this sequence of frenzied / docile behavior for the remainder of the opening evening (and later throughout the show’s duration).

The relationship between work and title seemed to be a key aspect of this piece. They’re gonna take over the world, alluding to a Western-centric view of China’s rapidly increasing significance as a global economic power, juxtaposed with the playful cyclical kinetics of this performing sculpture, seemed to mock a perceived view of time in stasis regarding Western hegemony, while pointing instead to the transient nature of global power dynamics from a more detached historical vantage point. This reconciled position in itself suggests a certain Eastern outlook combined with a distinctly postmodern sense of shifting ground.

The other works in the gallery included two wall hanging, Inflatable cardboard boxes, intriguingly incongruous propositions, and a geometric wall drawing made using a commonly found red twine mimicking characteristically Asian, ostentatious neon displays while also creating a compelling contrast with the suggested modernist aesthetic.

Together, the works in this exhibition displayed an evocative tactility, skillfully utilising lo-fi strategies in order to convey socio-political subtexts in both a humourous and visually dynamic manner.

Tamlin Saoudi is an artist and writer based in Hangzhou, China.

Clive Murphy: China - OK!, Gallery 411, Hangzhou, December 2004

Article reproduced from CIRCA 111, Spring 2005, p.106

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