CURATORIAL
Polytechnic
9 September to 7 November 2010
Exhibition curated for Raven Row, London
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| John
Adams, Sensible Shoes, 1983 Courtesy the artist |
Ian
Bourn, Lenny's Documentary, 1978 Courtesy the artist |
John
Adams, Ian Bourn, Ian Breakwell, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, David Critchley,
Catherine Elwes,
Roberta Graham, Steve Hawley, Susan Hiller, Stuart Marshall, Cordelia
Swann and Graham Young
'Polytechnic' is an exhibition of video, installation and tape/slide works made between the late seventies and early eighties by a number of artists in the UK who were developing new relationships between 'experimental' media and ideas of narrative. The complex and hybrid works in the exhibition talk about autobiography, television, diaries, lost histories, sexuality, the communist bloc, popular culture, fictions, soap operas and murder.
Formal and structuralist work defined much experimental practice of the period. 'Polytechnic' explores how some artists developed new approaches to engage with personal concerns, and to reflect the social and political worlds in which they lived. Many of these artists were directly informed by contemporary debates in left politics, gay politics and feminism, and were engaging with a culture undergoing a profound change marked by the emergence of Thatcherism.
'Polytechnic' has a particular emphasis on video work. As well as the
emergence of the domestic video recorder, the period covered by the exhibition
saw artists gaining increasing access to video cameras and recording decks.
This engagement with technology was encouraged through the development
of media departments in Art schools and Polytechnics, where many of the
artists studied and taught.
> Catalogue essay:
Polytechnic
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| David
Critchley, Pieces I Never Did, 1979 Courtesy the artist |
Roberta
Graham, Campo Santo, 1981 Courtesy the artist |
Reviews:
Rachel Withers,
'Polytechnic', Art Forum XLIX no 5 Jan 2011
Mike
Sperlinger, 'Looking Back (pick of the year)', Frieze Jan Feb 2011
Marcia
E Vetrocq, 'Get away to Yesterday', Art in America December 2010
Denise
Robinson, 'For The Untimely: Polytechnic', Camera Austria no 112
Collective.
'Polytechnic', Art Papers (USA) Jan/Feb 2011
Helen
Sumpter, 'DonÕt Miss: Polytechnic', TimeOut 4-10 November
Max
Zoller, 'Polytechnic', Art Monthly No 340 Oct 2010
Alina
Astrova, 'Tips: Polytechnic', Kaleidoscope. Issue 08 Fall 2010
Colin
Perry, 'Polytechnic Early British Video Art', Sight and Sound http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/reviews/polytechnic-raven-row.php
Francesca
Gavin, 'Polytechnic', Rough Version http://roughversion.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html
Melissa
Gronlund, 'A Return to Content? Polytechnic at Raven Row.' Rhizome
27 Oct http://rhizome.org/editorial/3836
Sculpture
Center, CuratorÕs Notebook Polytechnic 22 Oct 2010 http://www.sculpture-center.org/exhibitionsCuratorsNotebook.htm
Helen
Wilson, 'Polytechnic Where Art You?' Blog http://whereartyou.co.uk/polytechnic-review/
Pieternel
Vermoortel, 'Three Exhibitions in London', Metropolis M http://www.metropolism.com/reviews/three-exhibitions-in-london/
Rory
Pilgrim, 'The Best of 2010', Metropolis M http://www.metropolism.com/features/the-best-of-2010-part-2/
Lauren
Down, 'Polytechnic: come with us now on a journey to the 1970's', Snipe
Oct 2010 http://snipe.at/art/polytechnic-come-with-us-now-to-a-journey-to-the-1970s
Nichola
McCartney, 'Polytechnic' Spectator Arts Blog 17 Sept http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts-and-culture/touching-from-a-distance/6279628/art-polytechnic-raven-row.html