Viewing articles from 2018/06

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, Wakefield WF4 4LG

Giuseppe Penone: A Tree in the Wood

Luce e ombra (detail)

The use of wood, twigs and leaves in his work seems to recall Penone’s artistic output of the 60s and 70s, as part of the Italian art movement ‘Arte Povera’ (Poor Art), which placed an emphasis on the use of throwaway materials. However, today, Penone does not shy away from monumentalizing mediums. Review by Kristina Foster

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New College, Oxford, Holywell St, Oxford OX1 3BN

Emily Young

Midnight Head

Born into a family of writers, artists and politicians, British Sculptor Emily Young found an affinity to sculpting from an early age; influenced by her grandmother, the sculptor Kathleen Scott, a colleague of Auguste Rodin and widow of the explorer Captain Scott of the Antarctic. Review by Paul Black

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The Bluecoat, School Ln, Liverpool L1 3BX

Emma Smith: Euphonia

Emma Smith: Euphonia installation view

Gradually, our eyes make way for our ears: we attune ourselves to an aural experience rather than the anticipated visual encounter. Harmonies and melodic rhythms all glide – and bounce – their way across the installation. Review by Selina Oakes

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Cabinet Gallery, 132 Tyers St, Lambeth, London SE11 5HS

Ed Atkins: Olde Food

Ed Atkins Installation view, Olde Food, Cabinet, London, 22 April - 2 June 2018

Olde Food has a surface but no nourishing inner content; credits to a film are shown that never started nor did it ever have a core narrative or story; a soaked and constantly crying man looks for sympathy from the viewer, without the capacity to learn there is none forthcoming. Review by Matthew Turner

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IMT Gallery, 2, 210 Cambridge Heath Rd, London E2 9NQ

Maggie Roberts: Glimmer Breach

Maggie Roberts: Glimmer Breach Installation view

Roberts is tapping into the current zeitgeist around post-human or extra-human forms of intelligence via specific texts, fauna and digital tools. Whilst there are many artists working with and around these now, along with Roberts, it is her method of ‘fictioning’ and the open-ended, discursive nature of her work that elevates her current exhibition, Glimmer Breach, at IMT Gallery. Review by Lauren Velvick

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Gallery Oldham, Oldham Cultural Quarter, Greaves St, Oldham OL1 1AL

Natural:History (a fable of progress)

Natural:History (a fable of progress) Or, 'oh no, we've killed the last unicorn'

On 20 March 2018, the last male White Northern Rhino (who lived in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, under the watch of armed guards to protect him from illegal poachers) was put down. The media reported the event extensively, as you might expect. But what about the other 3 to 136 less ‘glamorous’ species that quietly slip into extinction every day without mention? Review by Sara Jaspan

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