Nick Cave, Sound Suit

Sanford Biggers, Ghettobird Tunic, 2008

Marc Swanson, Antler Pile, 2010

Throughout history charms and talismans made from natural materials were given spiritual power or were believed to transmit that power to their human owners. Artists in this exhibition make art from once living materials which act as reminders of death and decay and help us to create narratives about the world and our place in it. Highlights for me were a very cool light fixture chandelier-type piece made out of silk cocoons by Angus Hutcheson; a self-portrait by Cuban artist Fabien Pena made up of four lightboxes with images of the bones of a hand, foot and skull as well as a heart made up of cockroach wing fragments; “Spice Skulls” by Helen Altman includes 49 different types of spice in the creation of the grid of skulls so its scent captures the viewer; Susie MacMurray’s “Flock” from 2010, an installation of black rooster feathers, creates a claustrophobic interior space that is pretty and decorative but also quite disturbing. Of course there is the obligatory Hirst butterfly paiting from 2008, a sound suit by Nick Cave, and then two works by artists in the exhibition that is currently up at the gallery I work at–Sanford Biggers has “Ghettobird Tunic” and Marc Swanson has “Antler Pile.”  Overall the work was not particularly challenging but it was fun to see what some people use other than the traditional media of paint and ink to create works of art.