Well Mr Blog, it’s been a while. I’ve been off gallivanting round the country enjoying being a student on holiday (and looking at lots of art exhibitions of course) and now that I am back I think it’s time for me to stop neglecting you. We’ll have to do some back tracking first I’m afraid though, before I forget everything that I must tell you…
I think I will begin back in May, with the Liverpool John Moores Graduate Show, which definitely gave me food for thought. There was a wide variety of work in different media; sculpture, installation, films. There was also the special honour of having the help of Lorenzo Fusi (curator of the Liverpool Biennial 2011) to curate the exhibition.
The evening of the exhibition was buzzing. It was fantastic to see so many people taking an interest in the show! And the new arrangement of the Fine Art Studio really worked to give each piece its own viewing space. Fusi clearly had a lot of input in the development of the works and created a very simplistic and effective floor plan. My only criticism would be that the lack of labelling of the works and rule against business cards, may have been detrimental to the main purpose of the graduate show. In my opinion it should have been an opportunity for people to discover new upcoming artists from Liverpool. A graduate show is not only the marking of the end of a university course, but also a spring board to the new level of professionalism. As a JMU student myself, even I had difficulty deciphering whose work was whose. On later conversations, I discovered that this was a fear of some of the students, and yet it was missed. On a very serious note, as a student next year I hope to be very much involved with the show, and feel that this lesson needs to be learned by myself and by others in this upcoming year.
On saying this I otherwise felt optimistic about the growth of the John Moores Art Department. The multitude of work sited in all areas of the building was inspiring. From the Fashion Studios, to Interior Design and Fine Art, there was something to evoke a feeling of pride and excitement in all the people who visited.
On entering the Fine Art room visitors were instantly confronted by a collection of CCTV cameras and the sight of themselves on a screen. This gave the viewer a feeling of invasion or intrusion of their personal space, an uneasy impression of ‘Big Brother’.
A sculptural piece I particularly admired was a group of drawers, each filled with new and old make-up each with a description such as, ‘imperfect’, ‘used’, ‘salvaged’, which can, in turn be used as a metaphor to describe the women who have used such products. More pressure on women again? Still going to wear my make-up tomorrow though.
The interactive wall, where visitors were encouraged to write their feelings was predictable, as per Renshaw Street. It is all too easy for people to use this vehicle of expression for cheap comments and not in a serious, artistic context.
I must mention that, as a painter, I was disappointed by the lack of paintings in this particular show. I often worry to myself that painting becomes overlooked as a contemporary art form with the arrival of such technologically advanced media. But there is plenty of time to discuss this in a later blog.
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