INTERFACE
Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
REVIEW
Deliverance
Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery, Leeds 16 February – 31 March
Reviewed by: Mike Dawson
'Deliverance' was an all-male show, which, in the current climate, could be considered unfashionable – but this was a reinvestigation of "men in the modern world".
The work of Yuen Fong Ling took up the initial area of the gallery. His were three very different pieces; a CD rack with a diverse collection of albums with a rosy red apple on top; a karate jacket suspended to the wall by its own belt, and two flip charts surrounded by reams of paper. They symbolised the home, work and play of modern man, and were connected through subtle biblical references.
Adjacent to Ling's pieces, Paul Stone's photograph depicting a seated man covered from head to foot in plastic bags; there seemed to be no tangible link. In the upstairs gallery space, Stone's further two images also lacked any real connection to Pat Flynn's boulders. As a triptych Stone's pieces were strong, yet separating them created a sense of alienation.
Flynn explores the recreation of ideologies and homogenisation of cultural identities through the 3D sculpture of 2D computer game images. Downstairs, sitting more comfortably with Andrew McDonald's animation, his Tank was initially lost in the darkness of the space – its presence came as a shock as your eyes adjusted.
McDonald, both curator and exhibiting artist, returned to a childhood prop – Headless John – in his animation. To McDonald the mind that governs is absent which makes him free from moral concerns, subsequently exciting and dangerous. These feelings were intensified by the use of a black curtain to darken the space – not automatically inviting to the viewer.
Overall the content is strong, yet it seems evident that McDonald has struggled with the difficult Leeds Metropolitan University space. Or is this sense of unease deliberate – emphasising the conflicting roles and positions of the modern male?
Writer detail:
JANE GRIFFITHS
and MIKE DAWSON
are artists, arts editors and curators.
Venue detail:
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