Invisible Adversaries

Last weekend I went to see the new exhibition ‘Invisible Adversaries’ at the north east gallery for contemporary art, or NECA for short.

The intention behind the show itself was to confront ideas of female gender and sexuality within both a modern and historical context.

The most striking thing upon entering the gallery is Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich’s sculpture ‘Love Cannon’. A blatantly obvious suggestive work its size dominating the entrance to the gallery space. It reminded me of the work of one of my favorite artists Jeff Koons, mainly because of its size, colour and shape. The way that things seem more outrageous the larger in proportion that they are. The accompanying video is also equally bizzare as people parade through the streets with ‘Love Cannon’ in an almost hippie-ish surreal way.

Many of the older works re-enforce the oppressed status of women in society objectified by male protagonists in each image. On the flip side to a lot of pieces which view women as passive participants or as victims is ‘The Furies’ produced by Karolina Wiktor and Aleksandra Kubiak. Their film feels almost a pastiche of modern super hero genre that we’ve come to be obsessed with in recent times, three women asserting their femininity with the traditionally dominant male. But like super heros you have to wonder is this show really for women? Are they really ‘liberated’ through their almost hyper feminine image?

The jewel in this exhibition is of course the work by Goya entitled ‘Matrimonial Extravagance’ showing almost a kind of fear of the joining that marriage brings rather than the traditional images of celebration. You can’t help but feel that so much of Goya’s life and work was affected by what he saw on the battlefield as artistic correspondent, especially here the way the bodies are depicted melting and forming together.

The overwhelming feeling you get from these works is that women still continue to struggle finding their place in the world and that perhaps attitudes haven’t really changed as much as society likes to believe that they have.

NECA is probably my favorite gallery within the North East, always thought provoking the exhibitions are often have pieces contributed by local artists from the University of Sunderland. Exhibitions there are always a mixed bag of things you may or not like however it is always thought provoking and leaves its impression with you for some time after you’ve left the gallery. If you’ve not been I’d highly recommend going, it may not be as impressive as other galleries in the region but its the quality of exhibitions which shines through here.

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