Last week we recently checked out the lastest showing from Pearl Lam Galleries’ newest exhibition, a work by Scottish artist and DJ, Jim Lambie. Newly appointed International gallery director, Althea Viafora-Kress, walked us through the gallery’s roomy 6th floor space at the Pedder Building to see a bold exhibition of bright colors and blue and white stripes that make up an impressive body of work that is obviously prolific as it is “popularist”, a term Althea describes for the artist, Lambie.
Born in the the late 60’s, Lambie graduated from the Glasgow School of Art when he was 30 in 1994. Now almost 50 years yeas old, Lambie is a “visual” artist who creates colorful sculptural installations pieced together from everyday objects, inspired by his everyday life. At Pearl Lamb the most notable piece, titled I Remember (Square Dance), 2009, is a play on the cube formed via an additive process. Vintage chairs sawed in half, painted in poppy hues and stacked together with mirrored handbags, reflecting the moments in Lambie’s life where he sat in bars starring at chairs with women’s handbags. Simple as that.
A classically trained artist, who was nominated for a Turner Prize, Lambie likes to play with structure as a baseline, like the chair’s cube, or covering the gallery floors with blue and white swirls via a work titled The Strokes (like the band) where then each piece from the collection can have equal “weight” no matter how small or large the size. As a whole the show literally reflects a song where each work becomes an important note of which to play of itself or via the floor. It’s a show that exists within its own space, time, and framework.
It’s hard NOT to hear music when the same colors are on repeat frequently from one work to another. Like when colors reveal themselves via each metallic fold as in Metal Box (Instanbul), 2013 or when paint rips through plastic bags like in Plaza, 1999/2013. And as a DJ, one can say that he really is influenced with rythm and repetition. But I did ask Althea if Lambie ever tried to interpet his works back to music… she wasn’t so sure. But that would be really interesting if it ever did happen.
Althea Viafora-Kress, below, in front of Metal Box (Instanbul), 2013.
Records encased in Concrete boxes, in works from the Sonic Reducer 2008 series. Are they floating or sinking. Depends on where you’re coming from.
Colors rip through in Plaza, 1999/2013, inspired by a woman Lambie saw on the bus with milk seeping through her shopping bag.
A belt floats in Venom Wild Pitch, 2002.
England’s Dreaming, 2011 collage.
A special Psychedelic Soul Stick made for each show.
Too hot. Lets cool off. White Belt, 2012 below. Made of Steel.
One can easily get sucked in. Vortex (Into the Void), 2013.
Althea and I spoke briefly about different issues, from moving to Hong Kong, the Chinese art market, and art appreciation in general. She was excited to find out I practice architecture full time, so we started our chat on the subject of how architects see art (via a historical/spatial framework) versus how artists work with art and see art as well (a creative expression from Blankness within its own context). I was obviously drawn to the exhibit because it was so spatial, but interesting to note that Lambie starts each work via just tinkering with materials or being inspired by the everyday experience. The thing itself then gets magnified and constructed in super bold ways which exists in their own vortex.
Good to know that even well established commercial galleries can push the button of the spectator experience to create a point of view. While Pearl Lam is in a position to sell, it’s also good to educate perspective… for themselves and the client.
VISIT Jim Lambie: The Flowers of Romance, 17 April - 15 May 2013 at Pearl Lamb Galleries, 6F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong. Closed Sundays.
JJ.
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