The naked truth

I'm making a brief return to life drawing next week, after a gap of about three years. It has a problematic place in contemporary practice, as this article by Margaret Mayhew demonstrates.

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sota/tracey/journal/wigd/mayhew.html

Some of my old art school tutors used to describe the life room as a "comfort zone". While I won't deny there are some sticky issues over its place in modern art education, I wouldn't ever describe it as a source of comfort (more of frustration, exhaustion and the appalling realisation of just how much I still have to learn about drawing.)

I'm hoping the three-day session will restore a little discipline to my drawing practice, refresh my observational acuity and reconnect me with the right-hand side of my brain. It will also make me feel quite old-fashioned for even bothering.

TAMED and TACO at Torre Abbey

Mike Nelson's Taylor during a previous outing, installed in a disused M&S in Margate. Now showing at Torre Abbey until the 20th August.

This peculiar show at Torre Abbey combines pieces from the Tate and the Arts Council Collection with 3-D work from South West artists who entered the annual Torre Abbey Contemporary Open (TACO) under the theme of "Tamed".

Last year the abbey's Spanish Barn proved to be an intimate setting for Antony Gormley's Field for the British Isles. Lifting away the associations of mass human migration that the work sometimes carries, the barn imbued it with the air of a friendly family gathering or sunny weekend at Glastonbury. Rather appropriate for an exhibition in an old-fashioned British seaside town.

By contrast this year, Hirst's Mother and Child Divided sits in the barn like some kind of tacky sideshow attraction. Roll-up roll-up and you can also see Mariele Neudecker's Stolen Sunsets, Paul Coldwell's Bouquet and Mike Nelson's Taylor. And - ouch - Richard Long's Fourteen Stones squeezed into an alcove on top of a strident pattern of red and black floor tiles.

Back in Torre Abbey's main gallery, the work from local artists ranges from Volkhardt Mueller's bleak print installation Cell ... to the frankly twee. Lots of labels tell me how it all relates to the curatorial vision and its theme of tamed. But really, it's a bit confusing.

I'm sure the curator of Torre Abbey knows her demographic well, but personally I feel a little patronised. "Controversial Hirst piece"? Really? This is art from the last century we're talking about.

What's more, sticking Hirst's work alongside other random pieces doesn't help to focus minds on what he and the other artists might seriously be trying to say. It just seems to encourage thoughtless comments from visitors about the trickery of "so-called modern art" and its perceived desire to do little more than shock and offend.

Which is a pity, because Mike Nelson's Taylor deserves much more careful contemplation. This makeshift raft, marooned in the middle of an ancient Torquay barn, seems rich with resonances about human endeavour and desire for adventure, along with corresponding ideas of frailty - even hubris. Carrying a small pile of goods and only a flimsy tent for shelter, it seems destined for wild seas and possible disaster.

TAMED 6th July - 20th August, Spanish Barn, Torre Abbey, Torquay TQ2 5JE. Daily 10-5. Free.

TACO (3D) 10th July - 30th August, Top Floor Gallery and Gardens, Torre Abbey, Torquay TQ2 5JE. Daily 10-5. Adult admission £5.75.

www.torre-abbey.org.uk

A sight for (my) sore eyes

Fantastic documentation of Nexus from Exeter Phoenix.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exeterphoenixgallery/sets/72157624543690378/

Sinking into exhaustion

Putting myself in danger of art overload, I went along to the launch event of Underwater at Spacex on Saturday. It's a group show featuring a crowd-pleasing Bill Viola plus a range of work from other artists who draw on aquatic themes.

Previews are not the best time to think about art, especially not when you're so tired you can hardly speak. But, sitting on the floor to listen to a talk by curator Angela Kingston, I got a long, close and rewarding look at Seunghyun Woo's sculptures. I also found myself returning several times to Dorothy Cross' mesmerising film Jellyfish Lake. It had a dream-like quality that sat well with my dazed state.

Until 11 September 2010. Spacex, 45 Preston Street Exeter EX1 1DF. www.spacex.org.uk

The missing nub of Nexus

Something interesting happened during the course of preparing for Nexus, an exhibition exploring artists’ networks. The four artists who were invited to originate the event – myself, Felicity Shillingford, Francis Ives and Volkhardt Mueller – moved from a genuine attempt at planning and collaboration, to a realisation of its impossibility, to an acceptance of chaos … Out of which emerged a surprisingly polite exhibition.

Nexus has so far been an amazing experience: a chance to work with new colleagues and to exhibit in a high-profile public gallery with the support of a curator, a technician, an education officer, a publicity person, a well-equipped workshop and a well-stocked bar ... all the things that just aren’t there when you’re doing the artist-led thing.

It’s terribly tempting to pat myself on the back and say the exhibition looks really good. It does look good. But that isn’t the whole story.

We set out to create something that wasn’t a traditional group show, and which explored some of the social issues surrounding artistic practice. What’s missing from this show, I’d say, is any concrete sense of the way artists work together or with an institution – from mutual support and sustenance to exploitation and competition. They were all enacted during the preparation and installation, but little has been captured for the audience in the show itself.

Next...Nexus

Have been busy all week installing Nexus at Exeter Phoenix. Pictures here show construction of the garden setting for the exhibition, as well as work in progress by Francis Ives, Jockel Liess and me. Read about some of the ideas and processes leading up to the show on Artsculture.

Nexus 16 July - 1 September, Exeter Phoenix, Gandy Street, Exeter EX4 3LS