Interpretive Review of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2024 (Part 2 of 3)
The Bloomberg New Contemporaries exhibition took centre stage of Plymouth's cultural scene last Autumn before touring up to London.
Installation view, The Levinsky Gallery, Plymouth, Photo credit : Dom Moore
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 23rd March 2025. Below is the second instalment of this three-part interpretive review, please click here to read the first. The final section will be posted on Saturday 22nd March, the closing weekend of this exhibition at the ICA.
If you wish to read this interpretive review in full and in its original format, please follow this link to the Plymouth Culture website.
THE LEVINSKY GALLERY
~ Fast, Furious and Strangely Lonely ~
We make our pilgrimage across the rush and rumble of the city to The Levinsky Gallery, the next venue of the New Contemporaries. Here, an arresting mix of the unnerving and the uncanny await discovery. Upon the whitewashed walls and poured concrete floor of the space, beneath an exposed, industrial style ceiling, we are encouraged to take to the streets and question the value of art itself as a contemporary commodity.
Elliott Roy, Installation still of ‘A Content Replaces Another’, 2024, Instagram and Tik Tok videos.
We are immediately drawn in by the opening bars of the Beatles’ ‘Come Together’; a shot of the artist back-flipping into a canal interspersed with parkour moves; snippets of Assassin’s Creed and a row of e-bikes falling like dominoes. Playing on a loop upon a screen akin to those found in fast food restaurants, or a megalithic mobile phone, this is the domain of Elliott Roy (b.1998, France; MA Fine Arts, Chelsea College of Arts and Design).
Hyperactive, over-caffeinated, and pushed to the limit – both our bodies and the planet - Elliott’s series of moving-images highlight our shortened attention spans, consequences of ‘convenience’ and make comment on the speed of contemporary life. We wait patiently during a slight pause in the piece, transfixed by the sight of the loading/countdown timer, like hunter gathers drawn to a fire’s glow. Poignant and articulate, the way the artist engages with the younger generation of today in ‘A Content Replaces Another’ becomes an art form itself.
The cardboard seating of ‘Veneer’ by Anna Howard (b. 1988, UK; MFA Fine Art, Slade School of Art) provides ample comfort from which to partake in this social media frenzy.
Anna Howard, ‘Veneer’, 2024, Cardboard and tape
‘Designer, you say?
Inspired by Hermès? The New Collection?
Yes, I feel the anti-luxury, the smoothness of the taped designs. Patterns like a Mayan stelae, or a Celtic carving. Way cheaper than a certain Swedish brand…
And oh!
Siomha Harrington ‘People Are People And A Fool Is A Fool’, 2023, Oil on canvas
‘It’s sustainable too?! Well then, I’ll just stay here a while to admire and ponder the sitter’s eyes and string of pearls in Siomha Harrington’s (b. 1997, Ireland; Fine Art Painting BA (Hons), University of Brighton) intriguing painting ‘People Are People And A Fool Is A Fool’.
Then I’ll jump up to dance!’
Rebel Ballerinas
Mya Cavner and Edith Liben, ‘Ballet For Non - Dancers’, 2024, Poster
We may grand plié as we pick up our children’s toys, relevé when we do the dishes and pirouette as we take the wheelie bin out!
Mya Cavner (b. 2003, USA; BA (Hons) Design, Goldsmiths University) and Edith Liben’s (b. 2002, USA; BA (Hons) Anthropology and Media, Goldsmiths University) ‘Ballet For Non-Dancers’ encourages us to join this trend solely because we have a body. Paper cut-out dancers and postcards make an inspirational exhibition memento to take home. Whether in heels or at the grocery store, we can establish a daily practice because ‘the street is our stage’!
EAT ART REPEAT
AC Larsen, ‘Supper Time’, Installation G-plan chair, adidas tracksuit, cuban necklace
In AC Larsen’s (b. 1994, UK; MFA Fine Art, Kingston School of Art) sculpture ‘Supper Time’ stereotypes associated with different socio-economic classes are explored. A dining chair is graced with a cushion fashioned from a pair of Adidas ‘Three Stripe’ black tracksuit bottoms and bejewelled with a stainless steel necklace. Vincent van Gogh’s 1888 painting of a rustic chair with a hole in it is called to mind, yet here AC Larsen patches up that hole with their immaculately stitched cushion and replaces the painter’s pipe with the subtle bling of a shiny, silvery chain.
Van Gogh’s Chair, 1888
The absence of a person calls into question what it is to inhabit a body and to take up space, along with the assumptions or prejudices we may have about certain brands, clothing and accessories. The reference to ‘Supper’ in the title, along with the 90’s G-plan chair and Street clothing, are all identifiers of a certain Britishness, as is the slinky Cuban chain, which is a deft recurrent motif in the artist’s oeuvre.
Karen David, Arcadia (Season 6, Episode 15), 2024, Oil and powder pigments on found book (The X-Files, ‘Book of the Unexplained, Volume 2’, 1997, Jane Goldman
Karen David (b. 1976, UK; PhD Fine Art, University of Worcester) thoughtfully utilises books in her practice, so that their covers appear transformed into the glistening icing of extravagant birthday or wedding cakes. You can almost taste the sugar dissolving on the X-Files in ‘Arcadia (Season 6 Episode 15)’!
And thinking of sugar, Sophie Lloyd’s (b. 2001, UK; BA Fine Art, City & Guilds of London Art School) sugar and isomalt consumerist-junkie creation is eating an apple – though not just any Apple!
Sophie Lloyd ‘I Love Apple And Apple Loves Me’, 2023, Sugar and lead
Meanwhile, Roo Dhissou’s (b. 1992, UK; PhD, Birmingham School of Art (AHRC Scholarship) meticulous table setting is complete with hand woven Punjabi craft stools and screen-printed napkins displaying quotes by writer Sara Ahmed. ‘Eat, Drink, Chill, But Don’t Hurt Anyone’s Heart’ is an installation where craft meets Jugaad culture: the art of resourcefulness. Even the spoons, Langar Thalis (plates with separate compartments) are hand-made by the artist, the rich blue tablecloth embroidered, topped with light-detecting faux candles for the full dining ambience!
Roo Dhissou, ‘Eat, Drink, Chill, But Don't Hurt Anyone's Heart’, 2023, Installation of ceramics, textiles and glass
We imagine the conversation, the laughter, the joy of a shared meal about to take place. If only Sun Oh’s (b.1996, South Korea; MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University) family could see this table, from beneath their rock where a meal is consumed in a claustrophobic hush, with the artist’s profound looks of lonesome longing. . .
Sun Oh, Still from ‘Dinner With Family’, 2021, Moving image
Art of Narratives
Layered with meaning, Sun Oh’s bizarrely staged moving-image ‘Dinner With Family’ is followed by ‘Except This Time, Nothing Returns From the Ashes’ by Asmaa Jama (b. 1998, Denmark) and Gouled Ahmed (b. 1992, Djibouti) from Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN London).
Asmaa Jama and Gouled Ahmed, still from ‘Except This Time Nothing Returns From The Ashes’, 2023, Moving image
Originally commissioned for Spike Island, the five characters of this duo’s lyrical artwork form stunning tableaus in decadent, imaginative costume. We follow these impeccably dressed spectres as they haunt the streets of Addis Ababa, all the while Asmaa’s delicate, honeyed voice oozes her beautiful, poetic script of alliteration, alluding to ancestry, adoration and the After.
Georgia Dymock, ‘Roadkill’, 2024, Oil on linen
This sense of mystery is perhaps continued in Georgia Dymock’s (b. 1998, UK; MFA Fine Art Painting, Slade School of Art) painting ‘Roadkill’. The subconscious and the surreal fuse in her work, the two anthropomorphic figures planned whilst the artist was ill and cared for by her mother. Having exhibited digital versions of her works at Flannels on Oxford Street and solo shows at JD Malat Gallery, what is next in line for this talented painter?
Varshga Premarasa, ‘Little Golden Memories’, 2024, Oil and acrylic on canvas
We see narratives of spiders and rodents in Varshga Premarasa’s (b. 2003, UK; BA Fine Art, Middlesex University) paintings, recalling her parents’ memories of Sri Lanka, yet fragmented and combined with the plot twists we’d expect from a film such as ‘Oldboy.’ We put on gloves to turn the pages of Dageong Han‘s (b. 1993, South Korea; MA Illustration, Authorial Practice, Falmouth University) very personal ‘Dreams’ sketchbook, sharing in the artist’s angst and obsessive thoughts regarding the need to paint and to draw.
Dageong Han, ‘Dreams’, 2023, Ink on paper
Then there’s Farzaneh Ghadyanloo’s (b. 1989, Iran; MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art) ‘Thursday’ series, 3 photographs from the collection of 3,000. An intimate photograph of an elderly lady, possibly a relation of the artist, proudly smiles despite her bruised face following a fall. She smiles because she is beautiful.
Farzaneh Ghadyanloo, ‘Thursdays’, 2024, Digital photography
The Daily Calm / Got Brain Fog?
In ‘To Do’ by Saul Pankhurst (b.1993, UK; Artists’ Moving Image Fellowship, Film London) scattered and humorously animated images of popular culture and everyday life fly before us, as though a digital version of a Richard Hamilton (1922-2011) collage. A swirling, whirring muttering list of things ‘To Do’ - from cancelling Amazon Prime to cleaning the hob - is just audible between the syrupy guided flow of Mo Langmuir’s podcast-worthy ‘Daily Calm’ feature. Will Saul’s take on a daily ritual help put viewer’s decision-fatigued minds at ease, or poignantly distract us with reminders of our own ‘To Do’s’?
Saul Pankhurst, ‘To Do’, 2022, Moving image animation
With the clinical, sterile feel of hospital equipment, yet the curved solidity of young children’s toys and a peculiar buttery-smooth softness, Laura Kazaroff (b. 1993, Argentina; MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University) explores concepts of self-care, self-pleasure and positive affirmations in her work. A zen-like poem occasionally flutters in the spout of her phallic-shaped ‘Gaslighting Device.’ In ‘Embrace your True Self!’ an oval screen set within a sculpted pod displays persuasive words of encouragement and reminders as though a curated Instagram story or an on-screen advertisement for ‘living your best life’. Laura’s self-help gadgets have a futuristic quality as they pose questions about the commodification of mental health and happiness in contemporary culture yet recollect the game-like essence of 90s Tamagotchis and Gameboy Colours.
Laura Laura Kazaroff, ‘Unleash Your True Self!’, 2023, Mixed media sculpture
Look out for Part 3 of this article focusing on the artworks exhibited in Plymouth’s MIRROR Gallery in a fortnight’s time! If you can’t wait until then, don’t forget you can read this interpretive review in full on the Plymouth Culture website here.