Frutta, Rome
Lauren Keeley’s works are a real pleasure to view up close, formed, as they are, to such a high technical level of competence. Sitting somewhere between visual art and design, the works are meticulously crafted, with their individual fabric pieces cut by hand and then attached and sealed with a mix of Polyfilla and acrylic. The colour palette for this particular selection is also an unusual one within visual art, and the soft greys, reds and whites are more reminiscent of trainer design, car seating or corporate interiors. The skill of Keeley lies in bringing these apparently cold, lifestyle-led designs and palettes to the real world, and the minimal lines and outlines of human forms and faces contain a great deal of character, despite their simplicity.
The Sunday Painter, London
The Sunday Painter has chosen one of its surefire hits to show solo at Liste, with a selection of vertically hung pieces from British artist Samara Scott. Scott’s works are characteristically vibrant, mixing everyday items such as batteries and cables with luscious swirls of colour and luminosity. Her wall-hung pieces always have a slightly different element to her horizontal works (such as the incredibly well-received Lonely Planet II at Frieze London in 2015 and her 2016 filling of the Pleasure Garden Fountains at Battersea Park for Developer) which take on a depth which is both mystical and gutter-like. When hung, the light permeating the pieces creates less of a glitzy sewer effect, and inevitably draw parallels with painting. Here, multiple works are placed in dialogue with one another, moving from deep swampy greens to electric blues.
Ellis King, Dublin
The body is a central site of exploration within Ellis King’s selection of artists–more specifically, the body taking on unusual forms; from Ebecho Muslimova’s manic, inky monochrome works, featuring figures with gaping orifices, wild eyes, and a variety of stomach-churning props, to Joseph Geagan’s vividly coloured paintings that explore less traditional body forms (whether mixing gender expectations or displaying unsettlingly enlarged body parts). The wall-hung works of these two are shown alongside Siera Hyte’s installation which, while not specifically displaying the body, draws upon a host of unsavoury body-associated memories. The central blue pop-up bed can’t help but call to mind appointments for intimate waxes, swabs and internal exams, covered with a single sheet of long white paper that is traditionally intended to protect the surface for subsequent visitors and to mop up the remains. On top of this lies a sprinkling of fresh fruits and fleshy, lumpy forms.
Koppe Astner, Glasgow
Koppe Astner is showing a diverse selection of work from George Henry Longly, Charlotte Prodger and Grace Weaver. Longley’s hard The Lobbyist (which takes inspiration from the first US space station) sits centre stage, in stark contrast with the soft-edged figures of Weaver that surround it, though both address humanness in their own way–The Lobbyist, considering the human life within the, at times apparently cold, sphere of space travel, and Weaver’s paintings and drawings exploring modern life via a range of techniques snaffled from such varied sources as 90s animation and 14th century Parisian miniature painting. Prodger also considers the human, and the self, within the modern world, combining video footage of Nike trainers with YouTube comments and email conversations played through a vintage boom box.
Truth & Consequences, Geneva
Another mad creature at Truth & Consequences, in the form of Alan Schmalz’s manically grinning, scarecrow-like sculpture, complete with a blue mop on the top of its head. Schmalz is showing alongside Mathis Altmann, Anina Troesch, Lin Vorwinzel and Seyoung Yoon. The selection is playful and also a little sinister–a vibe which runs not only through the devilish face of Schmalz’s sculpture but also the Mr Tickle-like arm of Troesch and the witchy boots and long skinny legs in Yoon’s painting. Five artists is a relatively large group for a fair of this size, but they are all chosen because of similarities in their practices, namely, mischief. Ideas of resistance, outcasts, and power tensions run through all of the artists’ practices, which feels especially pertinent in our current climate.
Liste runs until 18 June. liste.ch
