Pop Art meets Fluxus in this neat little Fitzrovia exhibition that expands the concepts of sculpture. Two pieces are on plinths, yet sculptures they are not. Harm van den Dorpel has transformed the ubiquitous paperbag into absent dioramas by using Henry Moore-esque curves and shapes as negative spaces.
The title of the show is a reaction to Robert Morris’ 1966 essay, Notes on Sculpture about the concepts and physicality of the medium. The word objects takes us away from the stereotype of chiselling away at a block of stone or pounding at clay to represent a vaguely human form. Indeed the work here is essentially abstract. Even the text based pieces allow you to look more closely at the medium than the message. Braco Dimitrijevic has carved the words I’m Not Maker Of Objects But Creator Of Vision upon an antique slab of marble, echoing every artist’s attitude to being a “content provider”. Likewise, Carlos Feio’s axiomatic (wildness is contextual!) betrays it’s own boldness by use of lower case.
Teresa Reis’ Little Souls #1 is a passionately delicate mobile of suspended rubble. Filigree stainless steel threads hold the piece together and it hangs like a hardcore bead curtain between two rooms of thought. Across the room, Marte Eknaes has fabricated I’m In The Wrong Place, a space defining piece resembling two Argos punchbags. Hung on anchor lines, these are clearly nautical objects but are branded with a label saying “Institute of Flexiblity” prompting a fluid interpretation.
Anton Ginzburg’s Glyph Color-Space Initiative 1 (London) becomes the feature wall of the second room. Yet this is paint as installation, and the pastel colours evoke an after image of horizontal TV colour bars. Mirrored panels form part of the work and from whichever angle you look, the gallery itself becomes part of the work.
I left with a smile on my face. Notes on Object runs from 27th February until 13th April 2019 at Narrative Projects, 110 New Cavendish Street, London W1. Admission is free.