Visit to 'The Unexpected Guest' at The Cunard Building, Liverpool - 21.11.12
The Cunard Building (http://www.cunardbuilding.com/portal/page/portal/ext_cunard_building) is the middle building of the Three Graces on Liverpool Waterfront. It was once the headquarters of The Cunard Steamship Company, and is now used as offices. The elaborate ground floor is a location of the Unexpected Guest exhibition, as part of the 2012 Liverpool Biennial (http://www.biennial.com/).
The space is vast, and pieces of the exhibition are scattered around the room. There is a mixture of 3D installations, wall mounted artworks, and video clips, all adhering to the Unexpected Guest theme.
One of the works, by Danish artist group – Superflex (http://superflex.net/information/), is titled Liverpool to Let. It is a sea of ‘To Let’ and ‘For Rent’ signs that hang from the ceiling. The signs are hand-painted onto fabric, and are copies of signs used by local estate agents. It is Superflex’s impression of when they visited the area. They were struck by the number of empty commercial and office spaces in the centre, despite Liverpool being a major European city. I found the idea thought-provoking, and the depiction effective.
Nearby is Mona Hatoum’s Afghan (2008). This is a worn black and red rug placed on the floor. On closer inspection the viewer sees that the worn-away patches are in the shape of a world map.
Another work on display is Pamela Rosenkranz’s Bow Human. Sheets of gold and silver foil are arranged in a way that makes them look as if people are crouched underneath them, like they are emergency blankets. I found the work haunting, because the shapes looked so convincingly like people that I felt sympathy for them. Notable also is their positioning in the path that visitors need to tread in order to enter other rooms of the exhibition – I found this to be fitting for the Unexpected Guest theme.
Fans of photography would enjoy the submissions by Christodolous Panayliotou (http://www.christodoulospanayiotou.com/bio.php5). Of his three trios of photographs on display, my favourite was The Invention of Tradition; representations of scenes of Cyprian culture. It leads the viewer to question – why are certain things considered traditional?
Running until 25th November 2012, the range of mediums deems the show suitable for anybody with an interest in modern art.
For more information visit http://liverpoolbiennial.co.uk/programmes/festivals/places/4/2012/146/the-cunard-building/.
The space is vast, and pieces of the exhibition are scattered around the room. There is a mixture of 3D installations, wall mounted artworks, and video clips, all adhering to the Unexpected Guest theme.
One of the works, by Danish artist group – Superflex (http://superflex.net/information/), is titled Liverpool to Let. It is a sea of ‘To Let’ and ‘For Rent’ signs that hang from the ceiling. The signs are hand-painted onto fabric, and are copies of signs used by local estate agents. It is Superflex’s impression of when they visited the area. They were struck by the number of empty commercial and office spaces in the centre, despite Liverpool being a major European city. I found the idea thought-provoking, and the depiction effective.
Nearby is Mona Hatoum’s Afghan (2008). This is a worn black and red rug placed on the floor. On closer inspection the viewer sees that the worn-away patches are in the shape of a world map.
Another work on display is Pamela Rosenkranz’s Bow Human. Sheets of gold and silver foil are arranged in a way that makes them look as if people are crouched underneath them, like they are emergency blankets. I found the work haunting, because the shapes looked so convincingly like people that I felt sympathy for them. Notable also is their positioning in the path that visitors need to tread in order to enter other rooms of the exhibition – I found this to be fitting for the Unexpected Guest theme.
Fans of photography would enjoy the submissions by Christodolous Panayliotou (http://www.christodoulospanayiotou.com/bio.php5). Of his three trios of photographs on display, my favourite was The Invention of Tradition; representations of scenes of Cyprian culture. It leads the viewer to question – why are certain things considered traditional?
Running until 25th November 2012, the range of mediums deems the show suitable for anybody with an interest in modern art.
For more information visit http://liverpoolbiennial.co.uk/programmes/festivals/places/4/2012/146/the-cunard-building/.