‘And This Too’ - Global War Exhibition opens in Belfast

Contemporary and Old Art Reviews

‘And This Too’ - Global War Exhibition opens in Belfast

Postby AngelaReid » Sat Nov 04, 2017 5:12 am

On the theme of global warfare, ‘And this too’ is a ground-breaking exhibition of new works by seven international artists which opened on Thursday 2nd November in Belfast. Tackling contemporary conflict from seven unique perspectives, the show is ambitious, innovative, interactive and hard-hitting. Two years in the planning, the exhibition made its debut at Platform Arts, a giant New York-style gallery, akin to the Chelsea Arts District in Manhattan.
 
Highlights include Jill Gibbon’s undercover drawings and gifts collected from international arms fairs. David Turner presents an impressive series of small explosions which depict 30 nuclear detonations using Hama beads. Gail Ritchie offers a deeply contemplative wooden structure which invites viewers to climb inside, flanked by gentle poppy wall works, visible through the window openings on either side.
 
Meanwhile on the opposite corner of the gallery, Mark Revels has created a spectacular life-size vinyl canon which spurts out textile bones, projecting across the space and culminating in a nest of felt virus forms. Three hauntingly beautiful paintings by Ciaran Magill portray tragic scenes of a crashed aircraft, a car bomb and a timeless landscape of soldiers enveloped by a spooky mist.
 
Using thousands of Lego bricks spread across the floor, Sean Campbell has created a giant American flag which slowly dissolves as the audience interact to build their own constructions. In an exciting process of continual flux, parts of the work grow upwards, outwards and even start to appear on the gallery walls. Meanwhile in the back gallery, Brendan Jamison’s plastic blocks depict drone strikes in the Middle East through an hypnotic and seductive use of colour.  In several of the pieces, the material itself is disrupted and distorted through burning, melting or even a hole blown through the centre with a shotgun.
 
Gail Ritchie, artist and co-curator said, “Given the prevalence of war reporting across all media and the state of heightened security we currently find ourselves in today’s world, this exhibition is a timely response to current events. ‘And This Too’ includes drawing, painting, sculpture and installation and it highlights the important role which artists play in offering alternative viewpoints of conflict.”
 
Platform Arts is located in a warehouse-style space on the top floor of ‪1 Queen Street in Belfast‬ city centre. The exhibition opened on Thursday 2 November with a giant crowd of hundreds of visitors pouring into the gallery. There was even a queue outside the doors before the opening! The show also featured a highly-anticipated panel discussion on Friday 3 November in the gallery. Speakers included Dr. Des O’Rawe (School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen’s University, Belfast), Dr. Jill Gibbon (School of Art, Architecture and Design, Leeds Beckett University) and it was chaired by Fiona Ni Mhaoilir (artist/researcher at Ulster University, Belfast). ‪On Saturday 11 November‬, the artists will deliver a walk-around tour of the exhibition ‪from 2-3pm‬. All events are free and open to the public.
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Last edited by AngelaReid on Mon Nov 06, 2017 4:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: ‘And The Too’ - Global War Exhibition opens in Belfast

Postby AngelaReid » Sat Nov 04, 2017 5:26 am

Images from exhibition and panel discussion
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AngelaReid
 
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Re: ‘And The Too’ - Global War Exhibition opens in Belfast

Postby AngelaReid » Sat Nov 04, 2017 5:30 am

Audience interacting on opening night with Sean’s Campbell’s installation
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