One of main themes of this year’s Glasgow International festival is the legacy of the city’s industrial past and the way in which art now inhabits, and is often shaped by, the spaces of this former wealthy industry. This notion is given a full airing in the exhibition curated by the festival’s director Sarah McCrory at Tramway gallery—itself a former tram factory and depot—and especially in Lawrence Lek’s computer generated film and sculpture. The work proposes that the QE2 ocean liner returns from its current moribund mooring in Dubai to be converted into the new home for the Glasgow School of Art, whose Rennie Mackintosh-designed building was so tragically gutted by fire two years ago. (City authorities, take note…)
Another spectacular venue reflecting Glasgow’s former glory is the now-dilapidated Kelvin Hall, which once housed exhibitions devoted to the energy industries and whose upstairs chamber is now occupied by an evocative sculptural installation by Claire Barclay comprised of rubber, steel, coal tar, cotton and engine grease. Among those experiencing this evocative and pungent work at yesterday’s (7 April) press preview was the Guardian’s partially incapacitated, chief art critic Adrian Searle, who was gamely hobbling around the festival’s multiple venues with the aid of a walking stick. Apparently the intrepid journo’s foot injury was sustained by falling off a platform (shoe) whilst taking part in a recent Juergen Teller shoot, which also involved a donkey and a couple of porn stars. And who says critics don’t suffer for their art?
