Friday 2 March 2012

Lines of Thought at Parasol Unit



Fred Sandback's almost shadowless sculpture suggests a near 2D experience.



Helene Appel, James Bishop, Hemali Bhuta, Raoul De Keyser, Adrian Esparza, Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Jorge Macchi, Nasreen Mohamedi, Fred Sandback, Conrad Shawcross, Anne Truitt, and Richard Tuttle.

This exhibition explores the work, selected from the 1960s to today, of fifteen contemporary artists who either use line in creative and challenging ways or in whose finished work line has become a prominent element.

 An exhibition  exploring the use of line in contemporary art. A terrific concept! 15 artists have been invited to contribute to the show. The work includes 2D drawings and paintings,  a few 3D sculpture pieces and a book. On the first impression, the show feels quite restrained (especially upstairs!). Minimalist, might be the word. Or, grown-up. I did wonder how would Hayashi Yasuhiko + Nakano Yusuke  fit into it with their crazy toy train lines? Well - they would not.
Some people thought that the show bordered being boring. I think it is a safe, but an interesting show. It certainly allows the line to go upways and sideways, into 3D and back again (no video, though). You can see different contours of thinking that all result in employing the line for final expression. Adrian Esparza's has an un-knit blanket.  Jorge Macchi's maps river in concrete pieces.  Hemali Bhuta produced an astonishing wax formation made up entirely of vertical lines of wax.   Fred Sandback displays sculpture that looks like a drawing on a graph paper, that somebody has forgotten to colour in.


In addition, I found a remarkable Jorge Macchi's book La Ascensionon on the table at the reception. The book was for reference only, unfortunately. Any idea where to get one?



Hemali Bhuta. Tightly packed lines of wax that go down and down and down to produce an organic formation.



Adrian Esparza. Uravelled wool of a Mexican blanket resolved into a new structure of pattern and colour.

Jorge Macchi. Tevere cast in concrete, mapped on the concrete floor. Surprisingly light and fluid.

Jorge Macchi.
Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt. Enlarged fragments of passport paterns.
Conrad Shawcross. I am sure I have seen this one before. It was supplemented by a display of his pendulum drawings "Harmonic Drawings".





Silver balls in the garden. Desperately trying to be orderly. No idea who's work it is. Anybody knows?

1 comment:

  1. Silver balls were "Narcissus Garden" by Yayoi Kusama.

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