Bloomberg New Contemporaries: “They Do Not Seek Your Criticism, But Seek To Criticise You”
Closing this Sunday, and in a final #BeACritic review of the exhibition, Maisie Ridgway finds a strong and rebellious selection of New Contemporaries reclaiming authority over the viewer…
Into the World Museum foyer, up two flights of stairs and through the bug display: this is where you’ll find 2014’s Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition, selected this year by revered judges and former BNC participants Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Enrico David and Goshka Maguga.
The space does not beg you to enter, but challenges you to find it amongst the spiders, if you please. It may, therefore, initially seem an unusual choice of location, obscure even, but its sense of displacement in the World Museum pre-empts the theme of displacement that threads this year’s selections together. Other prevalent themes include gender, body image, inverted gaze and, more indirectly, money.
Upon entering the gallery, Alice Hartley’s almost 14-foot high screen print confronts the viewer with the words: “We’re All Very Disappointed” (2013). As a phrase most commonly associated with parental reprimand, Hartley provides the first and most prolific example of the inverted gaze. The piece establishes the artist’s authority over the viewer, repossessing her power through language and setting a precedence for the rest of the show.
MKLK’s performance piece, Man Eater (2013), demonstrates a curious manipulation of the female body through use of filmstrips of hard pornography, “specifically aimed at reflecting the male gaze within society”, in order to echo “the role of women as a visual spectacle for a masculine culture”. Man Eater is strong. Although the female remains the object of fixation, MKLK’s mesmerising performance commands our gaze so that she — and not us — possesses the power of sight.
This years BNC director Kirsty Ogg commented that: “creativity has become a marketable commodity in contemporary culture”. As an output that is experiencing a financial squeeze yet is increasingly viewed as marketable, artists inhabit an awkward space. A contradiction that is embodied in Matt Copson’s confused alter ego, Reynard The Fox (2013).
Reynard is a foul-mouthed fox, seeking vengeance for the mistreatment of his species in years gone by. Unfortunately, Reynard’s bloodlust is met with acceptance, as he is welcomed into the fold of contemporary art. Reynard, therefore, becomes impotent in his rage and so swings between sad resignations — “It’s just a gimmick, I can only apologise” — and inflammatory profanities directed towards babies, hipsters, homosexuals and anybody that comes to mind. Reynard is the tragicomedy of the exhibition. Read his thoughts via his blog post here.
These artists occupy a space disused by the World Museum because of budget cuts, which rather appropriately mirrors the financial constraints currently stifling the arts. Out of the 55 pieces selected, an uncommonly massive 24 are film based, one of the cheapest mediums available, whilst few more expensive materials are utilised.
The film pieces are displayed via televisions set on plinths that line the walls. The plinths, coupled with the Victorian style of the building, evoke a certain historical elegance that seems to jar with the contemporary nature of the work. I’d be inclined to suggest that this space, purposefully or not, comes to mimic the general sentiment of the selections. Namely, the young manoeuvring an environment tailored to the old.
In a time where the government no longer appeals to Generation Y for their votes — a generation that has been written off in terms of their ability to succeed, a generation that participated in one of the biggest student protests in history and were ignored — the dissatisfaction is clear. Through this 65th anniversary New Contemporaries exhibition, artists like Alice Hartley, Matt Copson and MKLK are reclaiming their autonomy, inviting you in as their guests under a scrutinous eye. They do not seek your criticism, but seek to criticise you.
Maisie Ridgway
This review was the result of a public #BeACritic afternoon for aspiring critics, hosted by The Double Negative, at the press view of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2014 — more here
Read more on the #BeACritic campaign here
Bloomberg New Contemporaries continues at the World Museum, Liverpool until Sunday 26 October 2014. It then travels to the ICA, London from 26 November 2014 until 25 January 2015
