Can austerity and recession
really be influenced by art? A new
exhibition at the Bermondsey Project seems to think so.
After a successful premiere in
Lisbon, curator Inês Valle has transferred a mélange of artists to the UK, offering
a contemporary feast of sculpture, painting, film and installation. Although focusing on ‘policies of austerity imposed
on Portugal’, Art Stabs Power is deliciously beautiful, bursting with colour
and energy – less ‘art stabs power’, more ‘art styles power’.
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| Joana Gomes' UN Blue Berets/SOS Save our Sanity 2014 |
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| Hugo de Almeida Pinho’s ‘O Freunde, nicht diese Töne’ |
Fernando J Ribeiro’s 'In search of the French revolution’ is
an alluring arrangement of post-it notes representing the French tricolor; together
with Untitled (Euopean Union), 2012, which transforms the golden stars of the EU flag into crisps on the
floor, they communicate strong messages about power and nationhood.
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| Untitled (Euopean Union), 2012 Image © Fernando J Ribeiro 2012 |
Like much contemporary art, this collection relies on its glossy programme to explain context and elements of meaning; without this, the exhibition would lack the oomph required to provoke anyone to do
anything about this part of recession hit Europe
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| Paul Eachus' Anarchitectower, 2014 |
Sadly, this home to many homeless artists will close later in the year. Art
Stabs Power? Unfortunately for the
Bermondsey Project and Crisis, power stabs art in favour of fancy new
apartments – and that’s a real shame.
Que se vayan todos!
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| Filipe Marques' Disclosedness space's underlying cause, 2014 |
More information:
Bermondsey Project
46 Willow Walk, SE1 5SF London
Opening
times: Wednesday – Saturday 1 – 6pm
Ends 3rd August 2014
Crisis
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