Feed: Culture | The Guardian
Posted on: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 3:46 PM
Author: Hannah Clugston
Subject: Survey II review – 'like a David Lynch riff on my grandma's lounge'
| Site Gallery, Sheffield During the hazy days of lockdown No 1, when standing still in the world was a novelty, the home took on a new fascination. The way light crept round the curtain rail, the slight dip in the entrance to the kitchen, the advance of ivy up the backyard fence – this all became mesmerising, endlessly shifting and changing under the intensity of my gaze. Perhaps this is what happened to the artist Nicolaas van de Lande when he was constructing miniature beds; or Shenece Oretha, when she was weaving two speaker stands together; or Tereza Červeňová, when she photographed a rotting apple spliced with a blade of grass. In total, 10 artists make up Jerwood Arts' touring exhibition Survey II, and it seems lockdown has had an unavoidable impact on all of the new commissions. Walking into its final stop at Site Gallery in Sheffield is like entering a Lynchian riff on my grandma's lounge. Embroidered hankies glitter with the proclamation "There is Nowt so Queer as Folk", pot plants creep menacingly around plywood structures of stereotypically beautiful women, three traditional straw dolls hide their eyes, cover their ears and shut their mouths. Spanning a whole breadth of disciplines, Survey II presents the work of early-career artists in the UK who have been nominated by established artists. |