‘But lonely walls, I’ll keep you company’. This is a line from Willie Nelson’s ’62 song Hello Walls and is rather fitting for Gladstone Gallery’s show of the same name. This recently opened exhibition invites an array of artists — from the in situ trailblazers, to the present day — to add their mark directly to the New York gallery’s lonely walls.
This simple premise leads on to some varied works, all using the scale and magnitude of the walls in an immersive way, though via very different conceptual avenues. Despite the fact that all the pieces have been physically created for this moment, it is clear to see the journey that in situ art has taken over the years — from its initial roots as a transient and rather shocking new style of working, to its current, widely accepted status as a valid form.
Kara Walker’s compelling silhouette work is given space to really impact here, with jet-black figures referencing mini mouse, sword-play, colonial bustles, African-American stereotypes and some pretty gory genital impaling. This weight of content balances well with other works, such as Michael Craig-Martin’s enormous Pop coffee cup. This work is slick, graphic and colourful, similar to Walker’s in its cleanness of line, but taking the viewer to an entirely different emotional space.
This representation of recognisable form is contrasted again with the more abstract work of artists such as Sol LeWitt, Angela Bulloch and Wangechi Mutu, who all use the expansive space to explore pattern and colour, creating rich and imposing works. Words are also very important to the show — as they have been to much in situ work — with American conceptual wordsmiths Mel Bochner and Lawrence Weiner displaying large phrases directly onto the walls.
Also showing are; Ricci Albenda, Daniel Buren, Neil Campbell, Jeff Elrod, Douglas Gordon, Arturo Herrera, Karl Holmqvist, Raymond Pettibon and Ugo Rondinone.
Hello Walls is showing at both NY Gladstone Gallery spaces until July 31.
