I also saw this exhibition in Leeds however I wanted to revisit it, make some notes and also compare the differences between the two. Most of the key pieces were still there however others were notable by their absence including ‘Polyopoly’ by AOC Architecture and ‘Posession’ by Victor Burgin. There were some interesting additions to replace these missing pieces but the main difference was the progression through the gallery space.

I’ve always found exhibition design to be a curious thing – why some paintings are placed next to others and what we’re supposed to be thinking about their relationship between one another. At the NGCA the journey around the gallery space was a more fluid one, deliberately progressing through time starting with the Victorian era and progressing towards the twentieth century.

Gustav Dore was just one of the Victorian artists on show with a collection of etchings collectively entitled ‘London A Pilgrimage’. Every piece seems to be full to the brim of people – young, old, ill, infirm, wealthy, men and women. Looking at these images its difficult to think that there was a quiet place to be had in London during that time with people packed so close together. Something interesting to note – although many pictures feature a particular cross section of a community the poor are crowded together and so are the wealthy, they suffer the same overcrowding but with the wealthy there is order and a kind of smart attire that goes along with it. Rarely do the classes intermingle in the Dore images, on the opposing wall William Powel Frith’s ‘Derby Day’ totally contrasts that with all sections of society intermingling.

I’ve always thought when traveling abroad as a tourist it gives you a different perspective on how class structure operates, even in countries where class or rank isn’t supposed to exist. Its also interesting to consider how we interpret Victorian images – our understanding of what is going on, we are very much a tourist in the era as Dore was.

Next was a progression further towards modern times including ‘The Status Project’ by Heath Bunting. The work looks at people as being part of a system by which we can be processed through, that we are no longer individuals but merely part of a flowchart and diagrams which help to put us in our place. Perhaps disturbingly when confronted with such a large diagram the natural reaction is to trace ourselves through the diagram, an unconscious self processing since quantifying and quizzing ourselves has become a normal process.

On a similar theme of people as statistics the Social and Spacial Inequalities Research Group from Sheffield University also contributed some large scale diagrams of prosperity and poverty in the United Kingdom serving only to show the vast differences in the quality of life for some people in the UK.

Some of the more striking modern work on show was by Ant Macari and Chad MaCail. I’d seen some of Chad MaCail’s work before since it’d previously been over at The Baltic, the most interesting of the pieces on show was ‘Robots run zombies for wealthy parasites’.

The exhibition was carefully crafted to get participants to think about how we as individuals form and enter into our different social strata, what it means to be a part of a ‘class’ and if we are even aware that’s what we are a part of. Whats more interesting is how individuals can break free of class and possibly live outside of society and how we look to others to affirm our social status.

There is lots to take away from this exhibition but it raises more questions than its ever really able to answer – which isn’t as bad as it sounds by the way…

Rank – picturing the social order is a post from: The Typhon

For those who don’t know by day I’m a graphic designer but by night I’m a very crafty person and one of my loves is pottery – either throwing or hand built it doesn’t really matter which. The Without Colour exhibition interested me specificially because it was mostly ceramic work.

Much of the work on show was a variety of clays and techniques. The most striking pieces were porcelain – I’ve never used it before but I’ve always admired the glazing colours that porcelain achieves.

Anyway some of the most impressive work on show was that of Tina Vlassopulos who I’m a growing fan of. Her tremendously simple and subtile works have a graceful simplicity to them and yet remain as functional objects at the same time. Its that balance of function and form which really makes craft pottery useful – being able to apriciate the handmade object every time its being used.

Other works of note were by Pam Dodds whos work can be seen on the above flyer. What was noticable about her work was the contrast between the colours used in glazing the pots – the heavy contrast with modern forms.

What always gets me when looking at craft pottery in gallery shops is the price and also the size of some of the objects. As a potter myself I understand the time and effort that goes in to crafting every piece, however I do think there is a key balance between price and object. I for one think that its unreasonable to expect to pay £16 for a mug or £60 for a teapot when you can go into a shop and pay a lot less for these items in any high street shop. Pottery is a craft where eventually you’ll have to use these objects and when the price is so high all you’ll have is an object d’art that if you broke it would be too expensive to replace.

Although the space itself was quite small it did contain some great work by very skilled crafters – not just pottery. If your in Leeds its definately worth checking out.

Without Colour at Leeds Craft Center is a post from: The Typhon

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The show itself took up the entirety of two levels in the Baltic one of which was the actual exhibition and the other more of an activity room inviting people to participate on a large scale artwork.

The works themselves spanned various topics from war, to issues of gender and images of the feminine form. Many of the exhibits were very adult in nature and in many ways lived up to the predefined expectations of what Yoko Ono is famous for. However the other overwhelming feelings were of a kind of child like playfulness especially when it came to Amaze.

Although they weren’t letting people walk through Amaze the way the light intersected between the panels of perspex in a kind of beautiful way creating intersecting reflective surfaces. With only one entry and exit point and the path being only the width of a person as a maze it would actually be somewhat impractical, once you were in there it would be difficult to then get out.

Other works had a voyeuristic nature to them encouraging the viewer to look through a variety of holes in walls and doors giving different viewpoints within the rooms themselves. Some spy holes had a view of nothingness and others had great views rewarding the participant for the effort they had put in to reach the viewing spot. Again this had a somewhat playful feeling to it with overtones of playing off the natural human trait of curiosity combined with the thrill of doing something which we should not, playing the peeping tom.

Finally pieces emerged with a sinister and reflective mood. A pile of books reminiscent of nazi book burnings showing just how much we take printed material for granted. Silicon body parts of a woman placed in various boxes which people are invited to touch which reminded me of the psychological theory that modern culture encourages us to see ourselves as pieces rather than a unified whole.

There was plenty to think about here however with only one floor with an exhibition on it was the busiest I’ve ever seen The Baltic. In a way although it was a good show you kind of felt short changed by the fact there wasn’t anything else to see. I’ve been to The Baltic on repeated visits now and sometimes I feel they play off the name value of the artist rather than the quality of the work inside. The space itself is so large and intimidating its hard to get around the appeal of the building and its spectacular views up and down the river Tyne. As you can tell I’m not The Baltic’s biggest fan but that shouldn’t necessarily put you off, but I would recommend visiting their site for the latest about what is on show since they don’t have a permanent exhibition.

Yoko Ono – Between The Sky and My Head is a post from: The Typhon

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.

Invisible Adversaries is a post from: The Typhon