With thanks to Ruth for this lovely review!
Hand of Roath review
The Modern Alchemists have established themselves as a stellar
artist collective. Emerging over recent years in Cardiff,
they've channeled an impressive amount of creative energy into
curating exhibitions and events. As part of this year's Made in Roath festival,
they put together an extensive programme for the week. Aside from their street
art festival, Empty Walls, and the Walking Gallery, Modern Alchemists were
hosts to 'Hand of Roath' in their newly acquired building on Bridge Street. The
opening night was on Saturday 19th October, and Ivor House was transformed
into a great space to showcase some fantastic art and music. Before discussing
the art, the music needs a special mention; there was a wild, wondrous contrast
between the musicians selected for the show. The warm-hearted, folk-tinged
ditties of Seamus Fogarty's unplugged set were superbly followed by Ginko's
atmospheric, instrumental soundscapes. Both performances were wonderfully
captivating, and the basement made for a memorable setting.
As for the art on display, there are too many artists to mention
in one post, so here's a selection of highlights. The show continues until the
9th November, for more information see http://modernalchemists.blogspot.co.uk/
Beginning with a focus on drawing, there is great work on both
floors. Upstairs features Bianca Theresa's intricate, engaging pencil portraits
on a modest scale, displayed sweetly on a line of string. They appear to blur
the borders between reality and fiction, as though the artist has fabricated
certain elements of her subjects' appearance. Downstairs, Sophie Adams' perplexing
line drawings are impossible to look away from, similarly featuring surreal,
made-up characters such as a reclining human with the head of a cat. With work
on both floors, Jo Higgs' colourful, naive drawings
of dis-proportioned nudes conjure up a playful, childlike
narrative. Back upstairs, there is the discordant work of Laurence
Elliott. Here he presents two mixed media drawings in monochrome. Fitting with
Elliott's established visual code, the works are at once domestic and
scientific, blending the familiar, yet slightly awkward aesthetic of family
snapshots with confrontational anatomic motifs - the devil is truly in the
detail.
Building on the eclectic display, there are a select number of
canvases. Matt Redman's work fondly recalls Peter Blake's mixed media
pieces to brilliant effect. The slogan 'Grey British' heads the canvas and is
rendered, as well as the rest of its surface, in an illustrious, varnished
palette of muted greens and greys. Also featured is a small piece by Helen
Bur. It is engulfed in mystery; an ambiguous, industrial scene is depicted yet
the painterly, organic marks lend the piece an ethereal quality which works to
brilliant effect.
Sculptural works play a key part in the show: Alex
Waddell's hand carved figures remember the skilled work of puppeteers and
toy-makers from a by-gone era, while Laura Jane Kitts' geometric, leather
sculptures are intriguing pieces of craftsmanship - perhaps questioning the use
of leather in a seemingly purposeless object. Downstairs, Sarah Younan's impressive
ceramic heads are a treat. The process involved in their creation is
fascinating enough, but the whimsical, delicate illustrations and text overlaid
on the ceramics are an curious and thoughtful. Also featured downstairs
is Rebecca Wynn Kelly's assemblage of miniature figurines and toys - a
flurry of nostalgia and surrealism. The scene is set for some strange,
cowboy-vs-Indians, holiday-in-suburbia showdown, and we can only imagine the
results of such. Next to this is James Green's latest masked invention: a
contrast of machismo, Kendo Nagasaki aesthetic and 'here's-one-I-made-earlier'
Blue Peter effort, which contrasts brilliantly. The familiar, tribal pattern of
the wrestler's mask is offset by the everyday materials used: flannel socks, a
fabric sports bag and beads which make for an enthralling piece.
Certain work on show is an amalgam of two, occasionally
disparate, art forms. Arron Kupier's fascinating painting-sculptures are
highly inventive in their construction. The method involves syringing paint
into a chamber filled with a gel-like substance, which is surely a painstaking
and laborious process, the outcome of which is an unfamiliar,
painterly-yet-three-dimensional surface. Another subtle fusion of media is the
sharply presented work of Joshua Kendall, who demonstrates his keen eye
for colour in a beautiful, vignette style photograph overlaid with simple,
gestural smudges of bright turquoise paint. In a similar vein, Colour
Doomed's 'defaced' faces of the past are bold, brightly-coloured puzzle pieces
of photographic history.
All-in-all, this year's 'Hand of Roath' has been excellently
appropriated by the Modern Alchemists, with a wealth of talent featured, going
to show that truly wonderful things can be built from the ground up - future output
is eagerly awaited!
By Ruth Hitchens
