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From: Outi Remes Category: Exhibitions Date: 18 October 2006 Time: 08:30 AM Review: The ICA’s summer exhibition Surprise, Surprise represents the work of 40 contemporary artists who have been invited to submit a work that is atypical to what they are best known for. The list of the artists is impressive and includes many internationally renowned figures such as Chris Ofili, the Chapman brothers, Barbara Kruger, Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Damien Hirst and Cindy Sherman. The exhibition does not have labels, Instead, the viewer is given a floor guide with information about the artists and the works. The exhibition includes some interesting work. For example, Nan Goldin is known for her autobiographical photography. The photograph Falling Buildings, Rome (2004) in the ICA represents a photograph of a hazy building. However, instead of being an experiment in urbanscape photography, the work still refers to Goldin’s usual genre. It could be an autobiographical drunken vision after a night out. The work fails to be atypical. Anish Kapoor is best known for his large sculptures such as Marsyas (2002). In the ICA, Kapoor’s Vein (2001) is a small gesture of blood-like paint on a wall, which demonstrates that Kapoor’s talent does not depend on the size of his work. While Kapoor and Goldin are interesting, many of the other works in the exhibition fail to engage with the viewer beyond the task of naming the artists. The work is often unusual, because it appears undeveloped or is an early work such as Dinos Chapman’s papier mache pig from 1970-1971 or Chris Ofili’s Two Blind Mice from 1989. However, the idea of the show is neither to celebrate great works nor great names of art. The Surprise, Surprise addresses one of the key concerns in recent museum studies. It comments on the relationship between art and the viewer’s dependency on accompanying information. As the works are atypical, it is difficult to know whose work the viewer is looking at. Consequently, this could mean that the viewer is more focused on the work. The problem is that we are so conditioned to labelling and the names of artists. When the labels are removed, most people obsessively focus on the act of rejoining the names and the works. This is a time-consuming activity, leaving little energy for anything else. However, by removing the labels, the viewer is made aware of his or her habituated behaviour in gallery space, and the ICA succeeds in making a valid point. If you would like to test your knowledge of contemporary art, the ICA’s summer exhibition is the answer. However, the exhibition only surprises the viewer who already has knowledge of the exhibited artists. Test your knowledge and labelling skills at: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,,1834991,00.html