#TUT1 RowanTUT

[whoistayla]

TUT Session 1: Gallery Visits

SMAC Gallery

The show on at SMAC was by Wallen Mapondera and was titled “Chirema Chine Mazano Chinotamba Chakazendama”. The body of work was about the various ways the subaltern navigate through hardships and use creative solutions as survival tactics. It looks to packaging as a tool for survival in an economically depressed country, the artists home, Zimbabwe. 

 In my opinion it was the show with the most energy and movement. As you walked in you heard the sound of a crowd of people or a busy street coming from the corner of the room. It really set a tone the moment you came into the space. There were many artworks in which you could walk around and see a 360 degree view. This made the space seem like more of an installation instead of just a bunch of separate artworks in a room. The sound located the space and made you feel as if you were experiencing the sound as opposed to being involved with the sound. I really liked how it was used and placed, where it felt attached to one of the works, but also detached. The works were all made of recycled materials, found objects and any ‘excess’ from the artist. 

I found the body of work most exciting and really liked the fact that the works were all made from ‘excess’ and recyclable material. I also loved the organic shapes and textures within the work. 

Blank Projects Gallery

The show at Blank was two solo shows by two artists but the work was merged, which sounded strange but seemed to visually work out well in my opinion. The shows were by Igshaan Adams, ‘Stukinne Stories’ and Sabelo Mlangenis ‘The Royal House of Allure’. The works made a beautiful pair and their subject matter seemed to bounce off of their own experiences as queer POC men. 

However, I was most drawn to Igshaan Adams attention to colour and cosmologies throughout his sculptures in this show, These particular sculptures seemed to have such strong presences because of the very particular colours used as a ‘base’ combined with the beading, weaving and materials ever so carefully picked out. 

What I was most drawn to in the show, funnily enough, was the fact that Igshaan placed thin pink veils over all of the windows in the room. One was in the catalogue and titled ‘Veil’ and I found it to bring about such a soft and delicate feel into the building itself, amongst the work. I’m not sure if Igshaan was doing this to play with light or set a mood but I found it really beautiful and it stood out to me a lot. 

Stevenson

Stevenson gallery was the least interesting exhibition. It was ‘Bilongue’ by Barthélémy Toguo. The body of work speaks of characters struggling against the grain, haunted by the spectre of desperation and material want, as well as a life of the post-colony punctuated by blinding beauty and joy. There was a lot of text, one could not exactly tell where one part starts and one ends. There was a range of portraits from hand drawn ones to wood carvings. The wood carvings interested me the most but only for a short while until I got bored. 

I did, however, really love the choice of blue/purple that was used throughout the exhibition. Just as a colour on its own, it worked out really well. The works were remnant of note taking because of the writing all around the edges which I found interesting. 

I think this exhibition had a strong subject matter but it felt unresolved to me which Is why I feel quite a lot less drawn to it.

However, I think the bodies of work in each gallery had a connection in some way.