A friend kindly invited me along to a preview of this exhibition on Cork
Street. I didn’t know what to expect and could see little connection between
the two artists’ works but each was a delight in its own way.
Mo Farquarson sculpts animal and human figures in bronze. She has a clear
affinity with animals: from the farm-yard to the river-bank to the desert. She
creates a connection between statue and viewer by tapping into our desire to
personify: her camel is certainly arrogant, her geese inquisitive. The
connection is heightened by touch: what a pleasure to be able to feel the
artwork and give two senses over to the shapes created! It gives some
impression of the realism that Farquarson conveys that I found myself absent-mindedly
petting her otter like it might a dog.
Her human figures include dejected bus-shelterers and hurried, anonymous
commuters in streets and stations; but mundanity is contrasted with
performance. There is a pair of acrobats, one balanced on the other’s
upstretched arm, showing confident strength and skill. The eye is drawn to two
parallel, vertical lines: one of force through the performers’ arms and the
other of connection between their eyes.
The one exception to Farquarson’s theme of life is an unridden bicycle
finished in matt grey to emulate a pencil sketch. It barely seems like an
exception at all: something about the warp in its frame and it’s jaunty,
unstable angle imbues it with character. I found myself spirited away to the surreal
village in Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman where people and bicycles start
to exchange souls through prolonged contact. Men start needing to lean against
walls whenever they stop moving and bicycles, much like this one, start to
develop a life of their own.
 |
| Leac an Tuadh, StrathVaich |
There is something quietly spectacular about James Hawkins’ landscapes. Most
of them are suspended cut-out shapes, perhaps designed to reflect the focus of
the eye: the periphery is done away with. He surrounds placid bodies of water
with harsh rock formations or lush vegetation to provide striking contrast. In the
mountains, layers of paint are chipped away like rock. Massive brushstrokes, as
though the paint has been washed across glass, give the impression of seams of
igneous formation.
 |
| Loch na h’Oidiche , Flowerdale |
This exhibition runs between 5th and 9th March at The Gallery in Cork Street.
www.mofarquharson.com
www.jameshawkinsart.co.uk
BONUS REVIEW: Roy Lichtenstein @ Tate Modern
Everything was so flat.
