Bridges Exhibition
Bridges
Exhibition
Space Studios Norwich
Bridges
Exhibition
Space Studios Norwich
I am always looking for cheap and interesting events/exhibitions locally, something i’ve mentioned in past articles. It’s a good way to keep up with current artists and their work, especially within the local area. The local area for me, being Norwich. I would like to talk to you about ‘Bridges’, an event falls into the exhibitions category. It featured two artists, Marcia X and Karis Upton. The exhibition took place at space studios from August 2nd-4th and the themes and issues in discussion are of such magnitude that everyone should sit up and listen. The exhibition space itself also added greatly to the experience as you enter through a small alley and climb stairs up to the works. The dark setting then immersed the viewer into the exhibition. The final room, up another staircase was much lighter, works hung from the sloped ceiling. After leaving the initial dark room with sound and visual pieces, this left time for reflection.
‘If anything, art is...about morals, about our belief in humanity. Without that, there simply is no art’ Ai Weiwei
The exhibition explored a number of themes, focusing greatly upon social theory and cultural interaction.The exhibition’s leaflet explains it’s called ‘Bridges’ because it aims to foster connection and discussion. This is something of such importance when trying to produce work that is progressive or socially engaged. The open discussion here allows the work to be processed and humanities actions thus far, on such issues, reflected upon. An installation piece entitled ‘ultimately/refuge/THEN’ within the exhibition embodies this- it explores how the dialogue around issues such as human displacement are saturated with dismissal. The work was hung in a ‘studio’ like space more than a classic white wall box gallery. Although possibly not intended; this let the work speak in a more familiar, less formal setting, striking the viewer of the ‘everyday’ nature of these issues. Although the installation itself was not socially engaged as such, due to the lack of direct changes that piece is eliciting. The residency that followed at The Barber Shop, Norwich, was. The residency included workshops and talks on the themes of ‘refuge’. This allows the work to branch out of the bracket of documentation and into real societal influence. These workshops intend a broadened understanding and hopefully action upon such issues. They also encourage using our western privilege, of art, for good.
Marcia X’s work often delved into ancestral history and therefore themes of colonisation; how she had been ‘ushered into believing’ things about herself. Further to this belief, colonisation, both historical and modern is still shaping society. The privileges of some come greatly at the fall of others, be it in past or present circumstances. The common recurrence of references to water and land gave pieces such as ‘What the water tells me’ and ‘Burial’ a cyclic feel. The vitality of water and land also remind the viewer of the basic humanitarian issues underlying the work. Within the gallery space, the combination of audio and visual work rendered the artist's personal presence presence calmly. The work spoke of a very personal relationship with the issues being explored and how her own life was ‘in bed with the political’.
The collaboration between Marcia X and Karis Upton offered discussion of a holistic issue through varying mediums. These mediums included visual/audio pieces projected against hung fabric, paintings and a large mixed media installation work. The exhibition renders the viewer uneasy with the level of knowledge lacking within so many of us. Knowledge around the vast impact of colonisation that still stands to this day; also the injustice of our recent refugee situation. The relationship between colonisation within the art world and in broader terms deep and complicated-I would be foolish to say I fully understood. Curator Rosie Smith admits similarly within the exhibition publication that the two artists taught her waves of information and raised emotion through their work. Smith curated a Bridge to the public with the artists’ work and allowed a space to begin gaining perspective on a long running cultural conversation.
When making art about issues that are of social importance and personal connection, the balance is hard to strike between metaphorical and factual. This exhibition achieved this with such grace that the craftsmanship went hand in hand with the very real issues it aimed to address. The work, although impressive within itself, did not demand attention away from the themes of the exhibition. The small gallery space was well used and the dark environment lulled the viewer into calm before a very unsettling realisation. Any exhibition that can raise awareness of a real life, anthropogenic struggle, is of great value within the modern art world. Progression is key within all walks of life if humanity is to advance. Approaching such a sensitive issues, both historical and modern in such a open and forward thinking way was the pull that lifted these works out of a Norwich studio and into the viewer.
Where to see these artists-
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