Lakeside Gallery review

Reimagining the Victorians at Djanogly Gallery

Today we visited the Djanogoly exhibition showing a wide range of different artists. There were three rooms altogether, the first, which was bright and spacious included sculptures and photographs. The second included drawings as well as a video piece and the third was full of preserved animals and insects which were fascinating but I didn't like so much. Overall, I enjoyed this exhibition and I liked the variety of artists work on show.

I spent most of my time in the first room. I really enjoyed the sculptures and being able to walk around and seeing them from different angles. as soon as I entered the first room, the sculpture below was the first piece I saw made by Andrew Gilbert. I really enjoyed looking at this piece And how is put together so creatively however I did find it difficult to understand what it was about that left me feeling a little overwhelmed. What I did get from this sculpture was a twist of Mix in 19 century battle With 21st century conflicts.

The next two sculptures Earth 2010 and Butterfly kid (Boy) II 2015 below was made by Yinka Shonibare. He clothed headless fibre glass mannequins in Dutch wax-printed high Victorian dressed styles made of the Indian origin Ankara cloth. He has cleverly dressed the mannequins in a traditional European style whilst using a cultural material. He draws our attention to how the wealthy cultures of the Enlightenment and the technological brilliance of the Industrial Revolution were closely linked to the enslavement and exploitation of African peoples.

  

The photo on the left, also made by Yinka Shonibare called Diary of a Victorian Dandy 1100 hours 1998 caught my eye from its sheer size alone. An image of a black man being idolised, treated like royalty and the centre of the stage is something you would have never seen in the Victorian times. Even though they are dressed in clothes of the period settings it still has a present feel to it.

I briefly entered the Second room where they were playing an audio video of sound. They had a sofa that you could sit and take in the space around you. I just poked my head through and went through to the third room where I was greeted with all these tiny preserved insects and animals. I was creeped out by this room however I couldn't leave because I was amazed at the craftsmanship and intricate detail created by Tessa Farmer Swarming Fever 2021 below. This fascinating piece showing Tiny Skeleton fairies at war with their spiny spears riding bumble bees is amazing. A caimans skull covered in butterflies, bumblebees, worm shells, sea spiders and many more. I have never seen anything like it before.

   

   

This feathered sculpture on the left was made by Kate MccGwire Gyrus 2019. This was my favourite, I walked around this piece for a while looking at all the twists and turns. It's solid but looks so fluid like water. I imagined the serpentine sculpture slowly slithering around, weaving its body in and out of the shapes. I've since checked out her work and found that she makes many other sculptures from different types of feathers in their thousands. I also think of the twisty roads that we road across, when I went on my travels across Europe.

   

Untitled (Sphere) 2000 Alastair and Fleur Mackie have made this exquisite geometric orb made out of mouse skulls. When I first looked at this I didn't know what it was made out of until I inspected it closer. It amazes me because I just don't know how they did this. It looks so delicate and I wonder how long it took them to make it.

There was a fourth room that was off of the back of the third room which had some black and white photography in there. I really liked this photograph by Sally Mann At Warm Springs 1991. I'm really drawn to underwater photography I just like the movement of material and hair, with the slow shapes that form and float so freely. Another underwater Photographer I like is Christie Lee Rogers. Going back to Mann's photo of her daughter Her head reminds me of an octopus If the hair resembling the tentacles At the bottom of the ocean. The little girl looks so peaceful but almost corps like.

I did notice that all these photographers were female which is predominantly male driven.

Overall, I really enjoyed this exhibition and found the selection of work to be enjoyable and thought provoking.