Images: Leah Landau & Alexandra Campbell
EXHIBITION REVIEW
Artwork and exhibition reviews almost always come in linguistic form. Accumulations of words are crafted to paint pictures (of already existing imagery), to give context to and to critique the artwork/s in question. The role of the reviewer is a complex and powerful one. Reviews shape how audiences encounter artwork. They shine light on details deemed important to mention from the perspective of the reviewer, contributing language to how the potential dialogue between artwork and audience member could go.
But when encountering visual art (works which often invite being experienced primarily through the eyes) in combination with linguistic framing, we can feel a bit stuck up in our heads. Where is the rest of our body? What sensations, emotions and gestural responses can emerge as part of our encounter with image and object-based art work?
‘Exhibition Review’ questions the activity of reviewing and proposes an embodied mode of criticality, where physical and emotional responsiveness sit at the foreground, and suggests these aspects as an important way for us all to consciously encounter and consider art.
This first iteration of Exhibition Review was performed in response to Gallery Steinsland Berliner’s (Stockholm) ‘Our Winter Show’ exhibition on 23 November 2024.
Duration: 2 hours