Ad Minoliti at Tate St Ives

 Ad Minoliti exhibition at Tate St.Ives 28 May to Oct 30, 2022

Walking into the big gallery the colours are very strong - it seems to be an era of painting the walls at Tate St Ives, with the Sol le Witt work that took weeks of meticulous work in the curved gallery
 

and now this design which contains the Ad Minoliti pictures, mostly very flat arrangements of shapes with some recognisable elements such as Pac-Man, simple flower motifs etc. There used to be packs of sticky paper cut into brightly coloured shapes for children to use and it is of this that the paintings remind me.
There are three figures of toy animals which I can see appeal to very young visitors.
There are tables set out for what is called a ‘ feminist school of painting’ , and a rack of Zines on various subjects such as witch hunts in the Middle Ages and other  queer or feminist topics. There are colouring books on the tables and felt tip pens.
The carpet has bold shapes and colours also.
 

The vibe comes from 70’s design, the intent is apparently to contest stereotypes of gender and binary categories - but I get this more from the free booklet and the ten minute talk than from looking around.
The artist has entered the mysterious category of those on the international exhibiting list and fits right in with the contemporary concern to be gender non specific, with a pronoun choice of ‘they/them’ but attendants keep forgetfully calling Ad ‘she’.
I so share the desire to combat stereotypes. I respect the effort- but - but- the show looks like a play area in a department store or an airport or maybe a gender reassignment clinic for children and mostly strikes me as an excellent set in which people photograph themselves and their children.
 

It does bring out my rebellious side as I refuse to fill in the colouring book neatly and write on one that I won’t keep within the confines of its lines.

 

 

The attendant says twice that we can stay as long as we like - but surely that’s a feature of artgalleries in general.
Why the seventies?
(The artist is 42.)
Is it saying anything other than that Ad presents some playful designs to look at or to colour in?
And should I be content with that?

 

 

Anima Mundi exhibition-Claire Curneen and David Quinn-May 2022

 Anima Mundi in St Ives, Cornwall, is showing 8 April to 24th May, Mon to Sat,
Work by Claire Curneen and David Quinn

These exhibitions are free to view on the three floors of this gallery. No one will pester the visitor but any questions are welcomed and information sheets are given out.

David Quinn is an artist who produces very subtle surfaces and repetitive marks on small wooden panels, held on the wall very simply by an invisible nail and without frames. They are in two sizes and two prices- £800 or £2,200. He relishes a meditative daily ritual of working.

Claire Curneen’s ceramic mostly porcelain figures are entitled ‘Through  Living Roots Awaken’.
They are startling in being often intricately made with contrasts  of dark marks on the white or real gold additions. They cost £6,500 and upwards and they make a bold but mysterious impact.
One figure has a chest pierced by a branch, another is with animals and objects that hint at a story, another has a chest with small thimble like indentations that gleam with gold.

It’s a change from all the galleries with beach and sea paintings.

Ceramic Practice as a Medium of Change and Resistance-Leach Pottery Zoom-May 2022

 The Leach Pottery held a zoom event on Friday 6th May with 70 attending, entitled ‘Ceramic Practice as a Medium of Change and Resistance’. It only cost £3 to participate.

What could the title mean?


Libby Buckley, director at The Leach introduced the day and Tanya Harod then presented the various speakers.
There was mention of the politics of work, that self employment can be, ‘a cruel parody of freedom.’
Rita Floyd was shown repeatedly hand-making and discarding porcelain flowers as part of Neil Brownsword’s project to memorialise old processes.
Jarah Das spoke of how Cardew set up a pottery in Nigeria under colonial rule. Community pottery such as that of Ladi Kwali met English studio pottery. ‘Overbearing colonial practices’ were mentioned.
Recently there have been free workshops for black people at Camden Arts centre, prompting me to ask if there could be free workshops at The Leach for the community around it which contains many people on very low incomes.
We have lost a lot of craft courses in UK. How can skills be nurtured? Should exhibitions be free to see? Many questions were posed.

Edmund de Waal then gave a very coherent, moving explanation of some of his work in which he has shown the effects of nazi persecution in Paris on his Jewish ancestors. He uses arrangements of simple porcelain vessels but also has shown a collection of books from 80 countries about migration. I asked what his thoughts were on Palestine and he expressed his deep dissatisfaction with Israeli government actions there but is also involved in making a work in cooperation with libraries in Israel.
There were opportunities  to meet in small break out rooms which meant participants saw and heard a few of the audience. Questions could be put and views expressed in the chat online although hardly anyone used the latter.

The last part was the most jargon ridden and about the political idea of ‘craft as commons.’ I thought and said that more usually used language such as sharing and co operation could better be used. I felt there was a rephrasing of my question to take the word socialism out and replace it with ‘social’ and that there was a good deal of gentle pussy footing around
the politics. However all sorts of questions were put.

If it all sounds a bit strange  I think it was - a very surprising look at ceramics.
One woman summed up the gulf between theory and her experience by wondering how her attempts to make a living by making tableware could possibly change the world.

This was an event full of surprises and ideas and I thought it was worthwhile.

 

 Photo of Libby Biuckley introducing the zoom event.

Captured Beauty-Black Voices Cornwall selected works for Newlyn Gallery

 

 Captured Beauty - Feb 19 -18 June at Newlyn Art Gallery.

This show was curated by Abi Hutchinson, artistic director of Black Voices Cornwall, which is an organisation seeking to enable Cornwall to become actively anti-racist.

Members of the group had chosen contemporary art mostly from the Arts Council collection.
There is photography, painting, ceramics and video by black artists.
Some work documents black lives including the experiences of artists.

Oreoluwa Ahmed made a video, ‘Can you see us now?’ 2021 which has subtitles about ‘the black diaspora in Kernow’ and how she can feel like a ‘bocka du’ which is Cornish for ‘bad ghost’.

Catherine Lucktaylor in ‘Ashanti Moon’ 2022 has made an installation using ceramic heads of women and Ghanaian symbols from her father’s country, with meanings of remembrance and protection.

Dentil Forrester shows ‘Witchdoctor’ 1983 which is a large vibrant composition showing figures at a lively musical club. This artist now lives in Truro and has been into the show. I would have liked to hear him give a talk about his work but you can find one on YouTube.

Nectaros Stamatopoulos has paintings of refugees and immigrants from the area of Athens where he lives and observes people, saying that there is no overt message - but by choosing to show them he makes them visible. These were simply presented on the wall without frames and that made me think how this is a good way of exhibiting without the expense of frames and making the pictures so vulnerable and immediate.

Binrat and Niddy showed ‘ Martin Luther, King Mustang Car Bonnet’ 2020- a work donated to Black Voices Cornnwall’ after the murder of George Floyd in USA. Somehow the words being written on the metal car bonnet have more resonance than if they were just quoted on a page.
The quote says ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’

There is a lot more to see in the show and I was also approached and shown around by Ian, a designated host who was very knowledgeable and keen to discuss the show with visitors that wanted to talk to him.

Comments in the visitors folder showed people had really been enjoying the exhibition and it made them more conscious of the presence of black people in Cornwall - to date only 2% of the population.

I think it’s a good thing to have organised. It’s a pity an entrance fee of £4.10 is charged which will deter a wider audience. (It covers entry to the Exchange Gallery in Penzance during the same week- Tuesday to Sat 10-  5)  There is a delightful little garden cafe for drinks with some deckchairs out on the grass overlooking the sea.

Good to address the issue of race and discrimination - and I hope the gallery will continue to keep the representation of people of all kinds and abilities and classes in mind.