When Forms Come Alive
A funny thing happens when you fill an institution with large, abstract sculptures. The usual adult inclination to wonder “What the heck is it?” slowly fades away as you find yourself drawn towards the reflections on those shiny… baubles? Or the sinuous curves of what look to be giant neon claws. Or the actual neon glow of the lights that loop around an empty rollercoaster track. And is that giant wall actually pumping out thick, foamy waves of soapy bubbles? Yes. Yes it is.
To quote Director Ralph Rugoff, the show is filled with “irregular eccentric forms that have a sense of life” and it’s the first show I’ve seen in a long, long time when I decided I couldn’t care less about the wall text. I just wanted to play.
Not that you’re allowed to. This is NOT an immersive experience, though the kinetic opening room with bungee jumping lights and that ever-so-slowly falling soap bubble wall does a pretty good job of teasing you that it might be. (Top tip: stand directly under one of those lights and look straight up.) The 21 artists in the show are “inspired by movement, fluidity and growth” and a lot of their works make me want to dance, attracting my attention like a wink from across a nightclub, beckoning me until I’m close enough to pause and properly take it all in.
Your initial inclination might be to seek out recognisable elements. I soon realised I was spending far too much time looking for visual metaphors and questioning the materiality, which is listed on the walls. It’s much more fun to discuss these works with someone else. Are Phyllida Barlow’s works heavy or light? I got into a debate as to whether Franz West’s pink “Epiphanies on Stühlen” was the Coronavirus. I was and still am convinced that I see a man’s head in Olaf Brzeski’s giant cloud of smoke. And it blew my mind to discover that Tara Donavan’s disco balls are in fact conical folds of Mylar. It’s a mountain of semi-solid spheres made out of balloons.
Almost every work in the show can be seen from all sides. Walk around them. Step back for a wide angle and then get as close as you can to peek from down low. There’s no moment when you can grasp the whole thing, and some of these works will make you wonder how the hell they even got them in there. The magic is in the questions that each work makes you ask. Keep a note of which ones you are drawn to and why. The patterns might be revealing.
Not everything is successful. The earliest works in an upstairs room were created by a generation of artists that influenced the rest of the show. Their names are important, but they’re decidedly non-monumental and seem almost quaint compared to the huge, modern installations. And let’s face it, a pair of stretched nylons looks a bit cheap and childish compared to Phyllida Barlow’s giant tooth, or Franz West’s breakdancing Cain & Abel sculptures.
The success of the large scale installations might also make it harder for visitors to appreciate some of the littler ones. Jean-Luc Moulène and Matthew Ronay have filled a room with small quirky shapes. They’re gorgeous works, but most look like you could easily replicate them at home. Ok, maybe not the glass elephant, but certainly the sculpture made with detergent bottles. It’s an inspiring room for anyone with kids, but the kid inside this adult wanted to get back to the outlandish, larger than life structures.
Given everything that is happening in the world right now it’s nice to be able to briefly escape into art that has no political agenda, no overt environmental messaging, and arguably no meaning at all. It’s just mass, shape and colour waiting for you to come take it all in.
Featuring:
Ruth Asawa, Nairy Baghramian, Phyllida Barlow, Lynda Benglis, Michel Blazy, Paloma Bosquê, Olaf Brzeski, Choi Jeonghwa, Tara Donovan, DRIFT, Eva Fàbregas, Holly Hendry, EJ Hill, Marguerite Humeau, Jean-Luc Moulène, Senga Nengudi, Ernesto Neto, Martin Puryear, Matthew Ronay, Teresa Solar Abboud and Franz West.
Plan your visit
‘When Forms Come Alive’ runs until 06 May
Tickets from £18 / Discounts and concessions available
Visit southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/hayward-gallery and follow @hayward.gallery on Instagram for more info about the venue and to buy tickets.
PLUS…
Check the What’s On page so you don’t miss any other great shows closing soon.
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