Bloomburg

After the personal excitement I found in the Saatchi I was really looking forward to visiting the Bloomburg space, if a little dubious on being able to find it.

As it goes it was just as easy to find as the Saatchi, a five minute walk from Moorgate station and signposted from about half the way down City Road, although a little bit random and out of the way of … well anything bar Wesley’s chapel and a large Marks and Spencer, it was all in all a decent enough location.

I’d been looking forward to seeing Charlotte Moth’s work, I had done a little research on her before coming down and her work really stood out to me,  with our mutual interest in projection slides. I wasn’t so familiar with the other artists work,

I wasn’t sure what to expect within the space as both the online and poster descriptions for the exhibition had been pretty vague, in terms of work that was to be presented.

Upon entering the space it felt quite formal, a man at the desk where you walked in through the automatic doors, it felt like an office building … which it was really, and this gallery space was just a small aspect of the whole structure, created in an attempt to give a slight sense of warmth in a business environment. The first room played host to sculpture by……
There wasn’t anything truly amazing about the space, architecturally the interior structure was angular and rather interesting, with a high ceiling soaring above. This became more prominent as the length of the room was by no means a match for such a big ceiling and this did emphasize drama. This beings said it didn’t feel like a natural gallery space, far too corporate, and normally a gallery has a few voices, a ‘hubble’ of sound, here it was SILENT, bar the over slide projector switching and my own solitary footsteps [which In theory I liked the fact the echoes] yet in reality I felt very watched and, time felt of the essence, like I wasn’t welcome to say.

In comparison with the Saatchi it was quite a lot darker, with synthetic light being used, the only natural / seemingly natural light coming from the entrance.
This sort of took away from the drama of the pieces as they appeared greyer than they actually were and a little tired and mundane. It was brought to my attention that light is very important, not necessarily just for the artworks themselves but also to brighten the mood of the viewer, the greyness just made me feel bored and uninterested.

There wasn’t any particularly noticeable use of plinths, or stand for the sculptures, they were more or less just ‘placed’. The projected film was well positioned, to avoid people interfering with the transition from film to wall.

The second room was small and pitch black, it seemed a little makeshift as the black came from hung drapes, I couldn’t help but feel the darkness wasn’t completely needed and even if it was, painted black walls would have worked better.  The two projectors were situated together on one plinth, projecting onto the back wall. The room wasn’t all that big in parameters,  however with how busy it was on this day I doubt it needed to be bigger.
Between the two rooms were leaflets which the public were able to rip off to read about the artist and their work, however there was no further labels / signs and it all felt a bit accidental.

As I stepped around the room, searching for signs of the remainder of Moth’s exhibits [a shiny blue curtain installation] there was an opening in the black curtains, however I didn’t think this area was accessible, I was about to leave when I noticed the security guard sitting behind the gap, and questioned whether I could enter. At this point he told me this as where the remainder of the work lay. Had I not seen him I wouldn’t have known the work was there and would have left. I’m not sure if it was meant to be a mystery, or if I was supposed to know the space better but I thought it fairly stupid to not give better directions.

When I did get to the curtain, it was far from thrilling, it again didn’t look like the work existed as art, only would you realise that from knowing this was a gallery, it simply looked like a regular sequinned curtain extending a balcony.  I suppose this was more the problem of the piece rather than the gallery perhaps however I once again [tediously] felt that this could have been displayed better.

In terms of how the works of the two artists were displayed against each other I felt they seemed completely separate from each other. When thinking in terms of our future gallery spaces for May, I would like to think our work would manage to compliment each other somehow no matter how different it is. Rather than allow the work to coexist Bloomburg separated the two artists and the exhibition made me feel ostracized as though I was in two different exhibitions.
Had the rooms been consistent in their décor, and presentation of the art works, the exhibition could have felt successful but it just felt, too temporary, and very un considered in layout aesthetic.

I think even I have gone around with the idea in mind that it is all about my work and the space is not of that greater importance, however such an exhibition as this showed to me the emphasis on how space can effect art. The two come side by side, without one the other cannot work, even a prestigious `Turner painting can look crap in the wrong light, as the active environment proffered to us subconsciously effects our perception of every work, allowing us to lose or gain all of the right attributes.

One bad black curtain can make or break everything.