Interpretive Review of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2024 (Part 3 of 3)
The Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition took centre stage of Plymouth's cultural scene last Autumn before touring up to London.
This article was originally published on the Plymouth Culture website (formally Made In Plymouth). The exhibition is now on show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London until tomorrow, 23rd March 2025.
Below is the final instalment of this three-part interpretive review.
Please click here to read the first section
and here to read the second instalment.
If you wish to read this interpretive review in full and in its original format, please follow this link to the Plymouth Culture website.
MIRROR
~ A Home from Home? ~
Following the intense, consumer-crush saga of The Levinsky Gallery, the exhibition’s final array of artworks are installed across the road in MIRROR and explore ideas of home and displacement.
We are welcomed into the space by a conversation between Ramin and Amir. Through Ramin’s line of questioning we learn of Amir’s battle for survival during his treacherous journey from Iran, seeking safety in the UK. This is the compelling work of Millie Shafiee (b. 2000, UK; The Collective Studio, The Newbridge Project, Newcastle Upon Tyne) which leaves us painfully aware of the difficulties of language barriers and leaving home, all the while stressing how memories and stories can be diluted.
Portals to Another Reality
Installation view with Motunrayo Akinola’s ‘Grandma’s gl Ceiling’, 2023, in foreground
Immersed within the structural exhibit of ‘Grandma’s (gl) Ceiling’ which takes centre stage of the gallery space, we are conscious of the peeling wallpaper and holes in the ceiling above us. The ornately patterned wallpaper is ripped and stripped bare in some areas by the artist Motunrayo Akinola (b. 1992, UK; Postgraduate Artist in Residence, South London Gallery). Often using light and Biblical references in his practice, a scattering of translucent squares are silently illuminated by the gallery lighting shining from above, generating a golden glow as soft as nostalgia. A memory of another time, another place, another person.
Hazel O’Sullivan’s (b. 1998, Ireland; MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts) paintings ‘Sidhe’ and ‘Geis’ are inspired by ‘The Book of Kells’, an illuminated Celtic manuscript. The artist reimagines this artefact from the visual perspective of Retrofuturistic architecture whilst also recalling the style of the late 1950s Californian Hard Edge Painters. Hazel reaches back through time, past the Renaissance and into the Realms of the Medieval and the Byzantine for inspiration. Biblical miniatures, text and design of the past are transposed into the visual language of the twenty-first century. The flat, 2D nature of the canvas is fully embraced by the artist.
Hazel O’Sullivan, ‘Sidhe’ and ‘Geis’, 2024, Acrylic on canvas
Whilst ‘Sidhe’ translates to the cave home of a supernatural race in Irish folklore, ‘Geis’ relates to a vow or a curse. The sharp angles and soft curves lifted from the artist’s source material lose their religious semblance and instead gain the identity of mechanical diagrams. There’s an equilibrium where solid blocks of unwavering colour explore notions of space, depth and flatness.
The colour red is associated with the Otherworld in Irish mythology. Hazel’s use of the colour forms a portal or a gateway from one time and space to the mystical Other. After a while of looking, the colours and angles pulsate and radiate a particular energy, almost like the searching, esoteric works of Hilma af Klint.
Sara Graça’s (b. 1993, Portugal; MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University) curtain of beads features various coins, mineral stones and even a pocket card holder. Beads of different shapes, colours and weights offer a playful tone, the diamond pattern evocative of lace, net-curtains and stained-glass windows. A boundary is created by the artist, but are we to pass through unnoticed? Or is access to what lies beyond forbidden?
Yang Zou, Still from ‘I love you, life. I Hope It’s Great Again’, 2024, Moving image
In Yang Zou’s (b. 1987, China; MA Photography, Royal College of Art) moving-image ‘I Love You Life, I Hope It’s Great Again’, we are offered a now-rare glimpse into Russian culture from high jumping and types of milk to buildings no longer in existence. The artist records his observations and experiences across 8 days and 9 nights on board the Trans-Siberian Railway; the journey becomes the artwork. Google Translate enables Yang to communicate with fellow travellers about tattoos and the Ukraine war and to read food packaging labels - though the Translator is not always accurate! We may think of our own travels abroad to foreign places, possibly retracing the footsteps of others, learning about different cultures and sharing experiences with strangers.
Polka Dots n’ Plaid
Fi Isidore, ‘Lapel Snare’ and ‘Curtain Call’, 2024, Sand shaded marquetry in cherry veneer with aluminium piercings
In ‘Lapel Snare’ by Fi Isidore (b.1998, USA; MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University) a fashionista’s dream of wood comes true. A polka-dot patterned divan-cum-podium in a trendy, autumnal camel shade becomes an offering, an altar to the history and craft of furniture making. Embellished with three steel rings like body piercings, ‘Lapel Snare’ is the Michael Kors of platforms, impeccably smooth and as finely formed as a catwalk handbag.
The polka-dots contrast the Burberry-esque plaid pattern of ‘Curtain Call.’ Sand-shaded tartan is next season’s colour! The grid-like pattern of this work is revealed as though a curtain opening, exposing delectable Cherry marquetry. Alluding to Medieval and Victorian furniture of unprecedented luxury, the wooden inlays and perfectly constructed veneers come to symbolise fashion, costume and wealth whilst recalling the early grid paintings of Sean Scully.
City Crater
Sara Osman, ‘Battle for Home’, 2023, Plaster, soil and clay
Arranged in a circle, Sara’s hand-built city has a void in its centre. A crater possibly indicative of terror, despair and total, incomprehensible oblivion.
Poetic, political and sentimentally loaded, this brave work is of timely significance in relation to the war in Sudan and the unfolding atrocities and war crimes sweeping across the Middle East, in Gaza and Lebanon and reverberating across the globe.
But we may consider battles of the past, closer to home. Sara’s piece could also make us think about the destruction of Plymouth during the Second World War and the evacuation of large parts of the city following the discovery of an unexploded 500kg Luftwaffe bomb earlier this year.
Sail Away
Sai Stephenson, ‘Untitled (An Apparition)’, 2024, Acrylic on voile, screenprint on voile, gold plated chain, weights
Perhaps one of the most visually beautiful works in the exhibition is Sai Stephenson’s (b.1997, Trinidad and Tobago; MFA, Glasgow School of Art) ‘Untitled, An Apparition’. Little gold weights secure two triangular veils of the softest shade of blue as though a pair of hot air balloons tethered to the Earth. We see right through this shimmering piece, the whole world infused by a subtle blue haze as if in a dream.
Sai’s soft shroud of blue emptiness hovers like a tipi, forming a sacred space or secret lair. The cradle of the sky itself. Upon closer inspection the tonal variations of blue rearrange themselves and we notice the vague forms of figures, of photographs. These people are suffused in the spirit of the work, remembered and loved. Yet the delicate artistry of this piece is not overshadowed by its concept.
Radiating a gentle ambience, ‘Untitled, An Apparition’ could also take the form of a ship’s sail, an interesting connection to Plymouth’s maritime tradition and the history of the Mayflower. Open to so many interpretations, we may sway along to the subtle undulations of this alluring piece which fuses past and present in a calm and meditative way.
It’s impossible to detail every artwork in this one article and to give each artist the attention they duly deserve, so go! Go and see this remarkable show. In your lunch break, between shopping in town. This is a real snapshot of visual culture today and there is so much to experience.
Molly Burrows, New Contemporaries Exhibition Guide
Molly Burrow’s (b. 2002, Germany; BA Fine Art: Painting, Camberwell College of Arts) delightfully illustrated Exhibition Guide for Young Readers is aimed for visitors aged 11-15 and is a good resource for all, whether your child wants to colour in the charming Nick Sharratt style images, or you intend to research the artists’ own artist suggestions. It’s a great idea and something we need to see more of!
We are incredibly privileged to have the work of these rising stars of the art world on our doorstep. ‘Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2024’ is not a presentation of the cynical or the critical, but a celebration of imaginative solutions to problems and a new way of seeing. It’s refreshing to see such poetic film pieces and installations you can sit on and walk through. Let’s hope Plymouth’s local social clubs, schools and university groups will have the opportunity to see the wonders of this exhibition before it heads up to the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
The majority of the artworks are for sale through the Gertrude platform, so fingers crossed some of the works will be acquired for the South West’s public collections and civic spaces - not only to support these talented artists - but to ensure the future cultural prosperity of Plymouth and the South West.
Look out for Parts 1 & 2 of this article focusing on the artworks exhibited in Plymouth’s KARST and The Levinsky Gallery in my Substack Archives. Alternatively, don’t forget you can read this interpretive review in full on the Plymouth Culture website here.
Bloomberg New Contemporaries celebrates its final day tomorrow at the ICA in London. If you haven’t been yet, don’t miss your last chance to see this riveting show!