Andrew Logan: The Joy of Sculpture at Bonington Gallery

Visiting Andrew Logan's exhibition today felt like taking a step into an immersive, dream-like world of the artists imagination, with a giant wheat field and chaotic cumulations of found objects and reflective surfaces taking form as 3D sculptures and large-scale wall pieces.

 


This piece didn't initially draw me in but it became one of my favourites once I saw all of the little found objects and different materials that it is made up of - there are so many hidden details for the eyes to explore and it's this interactivity that I really enjoy in artwork. The model of the woman's head appears to be life-sized and gives the functional feel of a mannequin and denotations of high fashion with the added glamour of her metallic, mosaic-like hair. She is elevated on a podium of found objects that appear to be things we could easily source from charity shops and antique emporiums, so there is a sense of status being re-assigned. The tiny animal ornaments dotted around the piece reminded me of our project and the way creatures exist in artificially constructed environments, so the sculpture is like a microcosmic world of fabricated nature. The vintage look of the objects gives it a retrospective sentimentality and overall this piece makes me think about how materialistic we are as people and how much we enjoy being surrounded by 'stuff', particularly when we have memories attached to it.

Close ups:

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Another piece that I really liked was this sculpture comprised of found objects including Mickey mouse faces and a bird figure with Mickey's head on top of some kind of dark box forms. I think there is a lot of symbolism in this piece because the bird is presumably a crow which is traditionally thought of as an ill-omen or signifier of death, while Mickey mouse - embellished with fragments of glass - brings corporate iconography into the picture representing consumerism and the idea of creating a ubiquitous, world-dominating brand. The pairing of these two symbols creates a sense of foreboding and Disney is represented in a sinister way despite the shiny exterior of Mickey's head - maybe a comment on appearances vs reality and corruption in the corporate world. The Disney imagery is also a beckoning to childhood and nostalgia, similar to the sentimental feelings in the previous sculpture I talked about- in fact the whole room had a feeling of unapologetic playfulness and surrealism that is perfectly captured by the exhibition title 'The Joy of Sculpture', but it is only when we look much closer that the darker truths come forward. The space feels fun but doesn't let you get too comfortable, the use of broken glass and mirrored surfaces throughout makes it impossible to avoid our own reflections and conveys our reality as something fragmented, liminal and bizarre.

Other pictures from the show:







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