CURATOR & CONTEXT VISIT - Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery

On  college visit to the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, we were asked to choose 3 piece from the collection and consider the curatorial decisions that had been made around them and how this worked in relation to their physical and visual qualities. 

1. Sara Bodman - Flowers in a hotel room, 2003-2008 - Volumes 1, 2 & 3

This piece was a selection of inkjet printed photo-documentary concertina books. Displayed laid down in a cabinet, but with the concertina form erect, the curatorial decisions revealed information about the form and nature of the series. The decision to have these artist's books under-glass supports their conservation, but I did find myself wondering what was on the reverse of the concertina. Was there information that I was missing out on? I think the concertina form works well in this way though through its structural qualities, it can be visible as a whole, without needing to be flicked through. From an illustration perspective, many artists seem to choose the concertina form to explore linear journeys and narratives. However I think that in light of story telling, there is something to be said for the physical qualities of a book which are perhaps taken away in an under-glass gallery context.

2. Ron Wilman - Cuby Siren/ Herladic Hog, 1977

As a large scale diptych, the painting was displayed on its own wall, perpendicular to more muted works. This decision to turn the painting against the surrounding works may be intended to limit distraction from the surrounding works. Furthermore I was interested in the rather graphic, bold qualities of this canvas and wondered if it asserts more weighting in a gallery context in which it is surrounded by looser, painterly and more figurative pieces. It is interesting that the curator chose not to segregate pieces by aesthetic, challenging our idea of theme and perhaps encouraging the viewer to consider conceptual similarities. 

3. Harry Thubron - Plaster Circle, 1962

From this pieces media of wood and plaster, it seems to operate within a decorative arts & crafts context. Yet it is interesting to consider the way abstract marks and shapes seem to create a face or irregular sense of character and expression, seeming to persuade a more conceptual way of seeing. Surface textures and wonky lines enhance the sensitivity and fragility of the media, complimenting the crafted aesthetic. I then question how we can differentiate between a 3D abstract illustration and a crafted sculpture in a fine art context? Displayed alongside Wilman's diptych painting, the piece does seem rather crafted and considered as an object rather than image, perhaps a curatorial decision to question the rules of a gallery space.