I attended a one week long course entitled ‘Introduction to curating contemporary art‘, held at the Chelsea College of Art and Design. It was a dense introduction to the history of curating, to what are the dilemmas of curators and to how practically organize an exhibition. Half of the time was spent on theoretical texts, the other half on visits to London galleries and exhibitions followed, by discussions and meetings with curators. The course was given by Pil Kollectiv who was very good at encouraging debate while providing very knowledgeable guidance. A lot also came from the participants of the class, most of them being art professionals. Here are some exhibitions and galleries we visited. They give a glimpse of what’s going on in the curatorial microcosm of London.
Work of Michaela Melián at Cubitt
We went to the Cubitt to speak with the curator Bart van der Heide. The Cubitt is an independent organization controlled by artists. It is not a commercial gallery, which is noticeable in a country where most of the art is privately subsidized. There is a big gap in London between institutions like the Tate modern and commercial galleries. The Cubitt offers a unique 18-month curatorial rotation. They change of curator once every 18 months, acting as a career launch pad. The gallery is currently exhibiting the first international exhibition of the German artist Michaela Melián. I found that the space was particularly respectful of the artist work and of the diversity of the media used.
The Mask II from Ron Mueck, British Museum
Statuephilia at the British museum is an exhibition featuring statues from some of the most famous contemporary artists in UK. It doesn’t challenge at all the institution of the British Museum: a representation of (colonial) power, of what is considered important and how it should be classified. Lack of criticism (positive or negative) is perceived by most of the London art community as a curatorial failure. That being said, I found ‘Case for Angle 1′ from Antony Gormley and ‘Dark Stuff’ from Tim Noble and Sue Webster meaningful, even though they didn’t challenge the institution. The exhibition wasn’t always convincing in terms of relation to space. I think about The mask from Ron Mueck which was placed a little randomly within the room of the South Pacific. Finally, I would classify the Kate Moss statue of Marc Quinn, entirely in gold, as another example of bling-bling art. If someone is ready to pay for such a gold statue, can it really be a criticism of the cultural superego, or is it its bold celebration ? But maybe this work, like the Crystal skull from Damien Hirst (not part of this exhibition even if you can see another of his skull obsession), will have an historical value one day, as a testimony of the vain generation of golden boys from the City, now hopefully over.
Frequency and Volume from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Barbican
I liked the curved exhibition space of the Barbican, the fact that it is not a closed showroom, but a passage, a corridor. And really the ‘Frequency and Volume’ installation from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is working this way. The shadows of walking people capture waves from radio, television… changing our perception of space. It is a good example of how contemporary curators exhibit not only objects, but also spaces and situations.
The reason why I went to this course is because I want to make an exhibition of video art in few months. The curation practice is I think very interesting because of its duality: it is philosophical, artistic while being also practically involved in how culture is evolving and disseminated. I truly appreciate the sophistication of the discourse in this area. But at the same time, I don’t want to do another white cube exhibition, or another curatorial criticism of art. I don’t have the right background anyway. I need to write down exactly what is my approach. I think it will be very challenging to position it back to the contemporary themes of curation, and to the high expectations of the art audience. But that’s probably why I want to do it. There would be no point if I had nothing special to say…
Christophe Bruchansky
