Munro House last week hosted the exhibition launch of Leeds College of Art’s MA in Creative Practice. The brand new course proudly displayed the work of its first four artists, active in a cross section of interdisciplinary art. Sculptor and installation artist Emma Dexter’s work fronted the gallery, and expressed succinctly her socio-political message in a trio of sculptures entitled ‘Thesis – Antithesis – Synthesis’. Smartly positioned in the gallery, and combined with a projected natural landscape these sculptures were brought into context and represented a captivating opening to the show.
Sharing a room with Dexter was Andres Jaroslavsky, a self-taught figurative painter who showed particular interest in notions of memory and conflict. Jaroslavsky looked to illustrate Argentina’s last dictatorship using exclusively the colours of the Zorn palette, which is limited to only Yellow, Red, Black and White. Painting in this way provides a greater balance in the individual paintings, and effective continuity between the portraits. A throwback to the old masters’ techniques- evident in the baroque and mannerist movements- dictated the style in Jaroslavsky’s dark exhibit.
Further into the gallery Patrick Kirk-Smith’s literary art provided some much appreciated comic relief. His discussion on typography proved to be wonderfully self-aware and smart comment on the way we understand text and language more broadly. However it found itself relatively uncomfortable beside more traditional gallery art, and did feel somewhat lacking without the much praised performance aspect of Kirk-Smith’s art.
The final artist, Janey Walklin again worked in mediums we had not previously seen; printmaking and collage. In this exhibition Walklin focusses primarily on personal history and ideas of memory, with both her ‘Local History’ series, based on images she had taken over 30 years ago and one of my personal highlights of the exhibition; her 2014 mixed media project ‘The Weaving Shed’. This former textile mill becomes particularly appropriate in the capacity of the prints produced, as themes of the industrial revolution resonate. Munro House will continue to host LCA’s Creative Practise’s inaugural show for the rest of the month, and its work of exceptional imagination, diversity and technical skill makes it well worth a look.
Sam Broadley
Image: Madres by Andres Jaroslavsky from www.leeds-art.ac.uk