Biennial opening

Myself looking rather scared in The Bluecoat
Ndize, Nicolas Hlobo
Inside the Open Eye Gallery


When I arrived at the opening of the biennial on Friday night I was rather taken aback. There, outside the Open Eye Gallery was a queue. The first time I'd ever seen a queue to get into a gallery! There was a certain buzz and lots of odd looking people drinking glasses of wine. Definately an art event. Once inside the Open Eye Gallery, there were even more odd looking people drinking wine. Lots of people. It was a good atmosphere but unfortunatly I couldn't appreciate the two film pieces in there because there were so many people around. So I vacated the gallery and went to the next venue The Bluecoat.

I was anxious to get to The Bluecoat, because I have always either loved or hated the work that was in there. The first room containing Carol Rama's work was brilliant. I espicially loved Wedding Dresses. What I love about Rama's work is that it was ahead of it's time. Over sexualised and not afraid of being controversial. The other piece I loved was Nicolas Hlobo's Ndize. I do not think you have to be an art lover to enjoy this piece. In a way it takes me back to childhood playing hide and seek, and the anxiousness and excitement you feel about getting found. Again we had to queue up to see this piece, if everyone would have gone up at the same time it would have been chaos.! As with Rama's work I also founf Hlobo's Ndize rather sexualised with the materials he used (such as rubber and the outfits the models wore). Overall I get the feeling that the work in The Bluecoat is about sexual identity.

The last venue I visited was The Tate. Unfortunatly, the work here did not get my creative juices flowing. In fact I had taken a real dislike to the room on the ground floor. This article sums up how I feel about Magdalena Abakanowicz's installation http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/sep/20/liverpool-biennial (under the heading dimly lit potatoes). As for the rest, it didn't do anything for me either. I didn't get to see all the work on the top floor, so I do hold out some hope for my next visit!

Other blogs covering the biennial:

Liverpool Confidential
Feeling Listless