London - Bideford - Exeter

Emily Speed Star Fort (previous installation of work currently showing at Spacex)

I've mostly had to focus on things other than art over the past week or so, but I've still managed to squeeze in a few exhibition visits. While in London near Chancery Lane I managed to make time for the Hunterian Museum to look at the way they organise and present their anatomical specimens (I'm still mulling over work around collections and archives) and Sir John Soane's Museum, just for the joy of it.

Back in Devon, the Jerwood Drawing Prize is at the Burton Gallery Bideford until 11th June. Some stunning draughtsmanship on show,  but the exhibition doesn't feel as ground-breaking as it used to. A personal favourite was Jessica Killeen & Samuel Taylor's Interventional Drawing - not so much because of the process it depicts, but because of the film that resulted, which was funny, sexy and full of heart.  I also liked Nicky Rolls' Sketch 2011, a projection onto (and beyond) a notebook where people and vehicles escape the artist's framing to wander across the gallery wall. http://www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/page/3158/Jerwood+Drawing+Prize

Finally, Topophobia, which has just opened at Spacex. Curated by Polly Gould and Anne Eggebert, it revolves around the idea of fear of place and continues until 7th July.  I was particularly taken with Emily Speed's Star Fort - a surreal and emotionally resonant remaking of furniture as protection/incarceration ... and Louise K Wilson's video piece which sites the singing of a haunting madrigal in a former Cold War weapons testing facility.  The latter makes use of a subtle yet disorientating disconnect between what's seen and what's heard. http://www.spacex.org.uk/pl109.html