Exhibitions north and south

Two exhibitions this week - I know, I spoil myself. But hey, someone's got to do it. 

Actually, I'd already seen the Neo:artists show Dada Now, but I went without a camera last time, and talking about an exhibition does need illustration, don't you think?  This exhibition is fun.  I didn't know quite what to expect - I'd heard of Dada of course, but my knowledge went no further than that, and that it's maybe a made-up word.  I didn't even know that Duchamp's urinal was supposed to be a part of it, but if I had it wouldn't have encouraged me.  Turns out it's a sort of anti-art, an art of the absurd, a reaction against what had gone before.  It still didn't really grab me - every group of angry young artists ever rebels against what's established.  What caught my attention more was that, broadly speaking, just about everything wayward that now comes under the broad umbrella of art has been built on the back of the rule-breaking established by the Dada artists. 

Anyway, this exhibition isn't an attempt to emulate Dada but to work in an innovative fashion, a sort of echo of Dada perhaps, and as I said, it's fun.  I liked Denis Whiteside's pieces (he mostly deals with words.  I like words), perhaps particularly the work based on Waiting for Godot, and Georgina Parker's deconstructed map, where (as you can see below) she cut out quite a lot of the map but left all of the grid behind - definitely an 'I wish I'd thought of that' sort of a work, for me, I thought it was a brilliant idea.  There were sets of typewriter art too (by Laura Hopkinson), which (words again) were fascinating - I assumed some kind of concrete poetry, but they were based on the oddities that predictive text throws up.  Now I look at the pictures I've chosen, I realise that all of them areat least partly to do with words except the pink one (which I don't actually like as a whole piece, but included because I love the black and white patterned paint).  It being a centenary year, there's probably plenty about Dada out there at the moment - here's one recent link.

That was the northern exhibition, in Bolton.  The southern one was in Bath (surprise!) at Bath Contemporary Art gallery, and featured work by printmaker Sumi Perera.  It was only on for a fortnight, so I did well to catch it.  Her work is precise, much of it with an architectural flavour, and full of lines and colour that frequently makes my stomach clench with delight.  I know that some of that is to do with the fiery, light-filled colour that she uses, and some with the utter mastery of her work, but I can't pin down just like that the intensity of my pleasure.  I first came across her some years ago at a Bristol Artists' Book Event (BABE), where she was showing a book full of laser-cut architectural imagery that - in exactly the same way - ensnared me.  I must have gone back half a dozen times over the weekend to gaze, jaw dropped, brain on hold, at the imagery.  Anyway, the gallery said no, I couldn't take photos, but that I could use the ones from their website, which strikes me as a total win - they're infinitely better than anything I would have taken.  I'm very pleased I managed to catch the show, and for once I don't feel too guilty that I'm reporting it late because it really wasn't on long.  Hopefully she'll have a more extended exhibition next time round.

A member of staff at the gallery said that they had taken photos, and that Perera had been fascinated by the shadows cast by one of her pieces, looking forward to developing more work from them.  I get that - shadows can add unexpected dimensions to a piece.  This mask-like sculpture (by Rick Kirby) was on show at the same gallery, and I couldn't resist a photo as much for the shadows as anything else.