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art, Brontë Parsonage Museum, exhibition, installation, Jan Pieńkowski, landscape, Lotte Reiniger, Manchester Art Gallery, paper, Recycling, Su Blackwell, Walter Benjamin, Yuken Teruya
More images from the wonderful exhibition The First Cut still on at Manchester Art Gallery and then touring, with at least a couple more UK venues.
This exhibition had all sorts of resonances for me, from the making of paper dolls when I was a child, to obsessive cutting out or collecting of paper in all forms from newspapers, magazines, information leaflets, wrapping paper (ongoing), to papermaking and book art (more recent interests) to paper cutting, which I have always been fascinated by, particularly in the form of silhouettes in fairytale books (I blame Jan Pienkowski and Gallery Five cards, but Lotte Reiniger was an earlier source)
silhouette from the nutcracker by jan pienkowski (Photo credit: damselfly58)
and which has had such a renaissance recently mainly due to laser cutting techniques. It was reassuring to see so many of the artists in this exhibition working by hand, with scalpels and patience.
It was also the themes of the work that interested me – particularly of course the emphasis on landscapes of one sort or another. I have already shown some of those featuring trees and forests in an earlier post. Others with environmental concerns included Yuken Teruya, a Japanese artist now living in New York, who reflects on the impact of consumerism on the global environment in his Notice – Forest (Burger King) of 2009, a tree inside a burger wrapper.
Notice Forest (Burger King) by Yuken Teruya
Themes of the meeting of cultures , particularly through colonisation are picked up by Emma Van Leest in Theodora of 2011, a mandala with Javanese motifs.
Theodora by Emma Van Leest
Claire Brewster shows the ability of birds to transcend borders and countries in The Harbingers.
The Harbingers by Claire Brewster, 2011
This was one of a number of pieces with the theme of journeys. Nicola Dale, in Down from 2010, used Ordnance Survey maps to hand cut 12,000 feathers referencing journeys and places lost in time.
Down by Nicola Dale
Down by Nicola Dale
Going West by Andersen M Studio, accompanied an animation on the same theme using a novel by the New Zealand writer Maurice Gee as a source to represent a landscape.
Going West by Andersen M Studio
Another literary source inspired Su Blackwell‘s Wuthering Heights made when she was artist in residence at the Bronte Parsonage in Yorkshire, characteristic of her work which has been used both in books of fairy tales and in set design for a performance of The Snow Queen in London last year.
Wuthering Heights by Su Blackwell
She and several other of the artists recycle books, magazines and other found papers for their pieces. another piece by Nicola Dale A Secret Heliotropism from 2006 was made over a year, using 320 pages from a found book. She quotes Walter Benjamin‘s Theses on the Philosophy of History, “As flowers turn towards the sun, by dint of a secret heliotropism the past strives to turn toward that sun which is rising in the sky of history.”
A Secret Heliotropism by Nicola Dale
EXODUS:8:13 by Andrea Mastrovito uses seed and flower catalogues to create a lush flower scene, invaded by frogs (the biblical reference is to a plague of frogs).
EXODUS:8:13 by Andrea Mastrovito
EXODUS:8:13 by Andrea Mastrovito
Kew Gardens is one of the places portrayed by Abigail Reynolds in her The Wonderful Story of London, bringing together old illustrations and published material from different periods, in this detail 1936 and 1950.
The Wonderful Story of London by Abigail Reynolds
Mia Pearlman‘s ROIL uses water as a metaphor for the passage of time, also referencing the Japanese Tsunami.
ROIL 2012 by Mia Pearlman
Interviews with the artists can be found here:
http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=92
Apparently the opening of the exhibition included a musical performance incorporating paper music. An account can be found here:
http://www.dyversemusic.com/2012/10/kirsty-almeidamanchester-weekender.html
Related articles
- Su Blackwell’s paper fairyland (rvampie.com)
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Thanks so much for sharing this, Diana. What a stunning exhibition! I shall be exploring this post for hours – so much beautiful detail to absorb and reflect on…
Thank you for reporting this. there’s some exquisitely beautiful work here. A shame the exhibition is not going to many more venues.
I love the sculptures rising out of the books and print – seems poignant, as if all the bound pages of books that we’re told e-books have made redundant are somehow sprouting in a forgotten place, as redoubtable as the trees they came from…
Obviously love this! Southampton it is.
Thank you so much for bringing what looks like a marvelous show to my attention – there’s no way I’ll make it up to Manchester before it closes but Southampton is a possibility. I know Su Blackwell’s work a bit but the other artists are new to me.
Also on the subject of cut paper, I can heartily recommend Molly Peacock’s biography of Mary Delany (The Paper Garden) if you’ve not read it yet…
For me, it is the “found” aspect of the work that fascinates and none more so than Nicola Dale, 12,000 feathers! Once again, you do a fine job of capturing the essence of the show, Diana. I also appreciate the links.
Karen
I think the found aspects certainly add a resonance and give that element of chance. Glad you found the links useful too. This has certainly been a well received exhibition and a popular post!
Thank you for all this, Diana. Some absolutely wonderful work here. I checked out the ‘First Cut’ tour and apparently it’s coming to the new SeaCity museum in Southampton later in the year – my neck of the woods.
Also, thank you for introducing me to the work of Su Blackwell: magical.
A pleasure! I am glad you will be able to see the exhibition – it is definitely worth a visit.
These are quite exceptional artifacts and beautifully captured Diana. Particularly like the juxtaposition of the delicate fragility of the material object with hard hitting political resonances such as in Notice Forest (Burger King). Some also reminded me of the mysterious book sculptures that appeared in various venues in Edinburgh in 2011. Was lucky enough to see these. Artist still unknown: http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/connect/blog/gifted-edinburgh-book-sculptures-tour-2012
Some of the non landscape/nature pieces I have not included were also political. It really is a wide ranging and original exhibition. You are right about those book sculptures – I remember seeing photos of them but didn’t see any myself unfortunately. Thanks for the link – at least one person has clicked on it already.
Marvellous! Really gorgeous,and fascinating, work. Any idea when and where the exhibition will be touring? I’ll be in London for a week or so at the very end of March and would love to have a look if it happens to be on.
Everyone seems to agree! Unfortunately it is not on in London – Nottingham and Southampton are lined up so far later this year.
Fantastic – love it!
Thanks, Sigrun.
Hi Diana
Thank you so much for highlighting this remarkable show – I loved it when I visited shortly before christmas. Manchester Art Gallery continues to be one of the most dynamic and exciting of municipal provincial galleries (and I have written about it enthusiastically on my blog before – see http://printedland.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/shadows-outside-window.html). One other piece which I particularly enjoyed was the imperial quilt on the stairwell – paper and politics in a heady mix.
Best wishes
Ian
Thanks Ian – I agree about the gallery. I always try and go when I am in Manchester, the permanent collection and the exhibitions are always worth seeing. I didn’t include all the pieces in the show as you can see. Thanks for the link – I hadn’t seen that on your blog as I usually look at your beautiful nature writing!
Wow! Stunning pieces! Thanks so much for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed them!
We’ve planned a visit now to go and see them.
This is fabulous. I wish it was remotely possible for me to get over there whilst the exhibition is still on – I will have to settle for buying a copy of the catalogue. You might also like Seiko Kinoshita’s work: http://seikokinoshita.com/work/?lang=en
Thanks Catherine. It is on in a few other places later but probably not so handy for you! Thanks for the link to Seiko Kinoshita – especially interesting as she is a textile artist too. There is an increasing overlap between textiles and paper – my own work for one!