The price of everything and the value of nothing

intoLACE featuring work by Andrea Stokes and Helen Snell

When I see a price next to a piece of art, I can't help myself: I stop thinking about what it might be trying to tell me and start thinking of it as a commodity.  I become much more concerned with whether it pleases me, whether it's worth the price, whether it's something I might want to own and use.

Artists need to earn a living, I know. And earning a decent living from your work isn't incompatible with artistic credibility. But I see far too many shows in Devon where curators act more like retailers.

In my opinion, intoLACE at the Thelma Hulbert Gallery in Honiton fails to successfully negotiate this - admittedly  tricky - territory.  Based in a town famed for its lace-making, the gallery is the former home and studio of artist Thelma Hulbert, who died in 1995.  The show and the setting offers a great opportunity to consider women's labour, women's creativity and the perceived value of women's work in society over time.

The flagship piece, Andrea Stokes' installation Net Curtains succeeds brilliantly in this respect. Over two days, under the guidance of the artist, some 25 local women transferred a drawing onto every single window of the gallery. Inspired by traditional Honiton Lace the drawing weaves over the entire gallery, creating the illusion of net curtains and making the building feel domestic and intimate. Significantly, the women were paid £250 each for their work.  I assume the artist took a fee too. But, as a temporary installation, the work itself has no price tag.

Equally, a series of fabulous intricate life-size in drawings of lacy stockings and tights from a series called Bluestockings by Catherine Bertola are marked not for sale.  

But work by other participants is presented as an odd hybrid of serious art and homewares. In Helen Snell's case, the same sculpture is shown four times in different sizes and materials. There's a bit of arty bluster about imperfect copies and subverting the idea of an edition, but it's rather undermined by the fact each has its own different price point. And exit through the gift shop please to buy Imogen Luddy's quirky plates and cake stands - just like the ones you saw in the gallery.

Please understand that I have no problem with applied arts -  with makers basing their practice on sound concepts, or with the public acquiring beautiful, individual and creative pieces for their homes.  What troubles me is the muddle we're in here between meaning and selling. It's like IKEA trying to persuade you to buy a wardrobe by quoting Deleuze. It makes the artists' statements sound like pretentious and ultimately insincere sales patter.

I lay this problem at the feet of  the curator, not the artists, who all seem to be producing very sound work.  A bolder over-arching interpretative statement, a more rigorous editing of work (to avoid the feeling of a shop display) and the production of a separate price list would all have gone a long way to giving this exhibition the credibility it deserves.

IntoLACE 14 September 2013 - 02 November 2013 at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Honiton and Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey.