Anish Kapoor- Turning The World Upside Down, Kensington Gardens

Anish Kapoor has had four works placed within the Kensington Gardens for the last 6 months. Each of the pieces are mirrors in some form, ranging in size and shape from gigantic tilted circles to ‘non shapes’.

The first work is a large circular piece which is tilted allowing the viewer to the see a new perspective of their current place. Not only is the size impressive but the reflection that the juxtapose angle creates is interesting and innovative, changing as you walk along. The same piece when seen from across the lake gloriously reflects the sky, absorbing the shapes and contrasts in their pure state. This piece viewed from either side or even the aesthetic of its actual form and size create a feeling of awe as does his second piece.

The second work is a long concave piece which when you face the reflection is inverted. The mirror is also split into 3 parts offering a closer or more distant image. However the most inspiring thing about this piece is when you walk around to the other side, a panoramic reflection hits you. It is almost like a high definition landscape painting. You need to remind yourself of what you are actually looking at as it is easy to forget and become swallowed thinking that you are looking ahead of you. It also creates a strange feeling, of seeing a panoramic view from behind you but then seeing that the piece is framed by the landscape that is in front of you.

The other two works are less impressive but still interesting, one a smaller circular form like the first piece but tinted red and the other a cone shaped ‘non object’ offering distorted inverted images that smoothly and constantly change and rearrange.

These works are the first exhibited in conjunction with and outside of the Serpentine Gallery. Hopefully this is the first of many.

Tracey Emin and Louise Bourgeois - Do Not Abandon Me

Do not abandon me is a collaboration between Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin. Both artists independently played their roles; Bourgeois created the backdrop and then handed the works over to Emin.

Bourgeois painted the male and female profile shapes in a palette of blues and reds using gouache pigment with water on paper which were later translated to fabric.

Upon receiving these watercoloured figures Emin predictably drew her Monoprint’s with statements such as ‘I LOST YOU’ scrawled across the works.

This project is quite disappointing as Emin has just repeated exactly what she has done for the last 10 years just merely on a new backdrop. Everything that was expected of her, she fulfilled. The themes are that of loss, abuse, abortion, sex, self-pity, destruction etc.

Bourgeois’ part was played quite safe with colour and shape and perhaps needed something to push the works forward hence where Emin would come in but unfortunately she didn’t execute anything new or exciting.

A collaboration of two strong, independent female artists and all they could create were pieces which showed hetronormative ideologies of women, how men make them weak, how they should of “loved more”. I am not too sure what to say about Bourgeois input in the final pieces as she only painted the backdrop but I find it hard to see these works as genuine on Emin’s behalf as not much effort has taken place.

The idea of this collaboration is more exciting than the execution.

Sheela Gowda - INIVA

Sheela Gowda’s current work on display is her first showing in the UK, an artist from Bangalore, whose career started as a painter and now lies within sculpture and installation, currently has two works on display at INIVA (Institute Of International Visual Arts), Rivington Place.

Collateral (2007) is one of her older works which sits in the gallery space on the third floor. This piece was made by rolling, arranging and burning incense onto mesh frames to produce intricate patterns. There are three different sizes of mesh frames which suggest notions of masculine, feminine and childlike like shapes, in relation to each other and independently they draw conversation and rhythm. The elongated feminine rectangular mesh frames are decorated loosely with curves in contrast with the quite controlled and hearty shapes of the masculine mesh. With the smaller childlike pieces being composed of both decorative concepts. The piece is impressive from an aesthetic point of view but with the added layer of perception and the fact of the fragility of this piece it becomes a stronger and more interesting work.

On the lower, street level floor which is built of 3 concrete and a glass wall that looks out onto the street lies her new piece ‘Untitled’ . This piece is layered and scattered with thousands of wooden chips which on closer inspection reveals that they are in fact small pieces of carved wood loosely animated with faces, each one unique. These wooden chips are then placed in situations illustrating varying concepts of the human condition. An upside down elephant is succumbed by hundreds on its belly suggesting notions of fundamentalism and national identity. Gowda’s work is also sculpture heavy, on the left wall sits windows and doors painted in pastel colours which on the other side of the gallery are deconstructed and hang from the ceiling providing a platform, heightening the wooden chips. This piece is well crafted and conceptualised.

Together these pieces provide a great insight into her work.

Lacoste Elysee Prize 2010

I was not too sure what to expect from the 'Lacoste Elysee Prize 2010', but I imagined it would contain a lot of people licking Lacoste with glossy, beautifully cropped; sunset like photographs all making space on their CV for the winning title. I was happily surprised to find that the artists had not fallen to their knees in order to accommodate.

Ueli Alder put forward a nice palette of subtle tones focusing on run down tennis courts with cracks running through, which would harbor gaming but emphasizes the determination of would be players. This doesn't in any way highlight the branding of Lacoste but would fit in snug with one of their campaigns or stand independent as a work.

Benjamin Beker's work could stand independently but fits better within the brief. The piece that stands out for me is the block of flats with each floor holding a block of colour exaggerating its concept on the top floors. Each of the colours used relates to the Lacoste brand colour pallet. This is an innovate use of the brief and is well balanced.

Jen Davis, like other participating artists seems to have disregarded the brief and only at the end added it and bended it to suit her work instead of visa versa. Her work is subtle again like Ueli Alder; she uses a soft palette to create portraits within mirrors illustrating desire with an odd, almost un-noticeable Lacoste t-shirt thrown in. If seen outside of this context, the Lacoste logo would be a mere cultural reference, if anything. Her work is very intriguing and is reminiscent of Nan Godin’s work.

Richard Mosse's work is undoubtedly the most interesting of all the participants. Mosse went to Ethiopia and concluded that in essence clothing is a commodity, a trade commodity as it has a use value. Mosse then traded the Lacoste shirt with Ethiopians he met; in return he was allowed to take their portrait. This project brings up questions of commodity. It puts in front of us the issues of not only consumption but of capitalism and the ideology of branding. When these Lacoste shirts are taken out of billboards or other marketed settings we see that it is just a mere cloth. When placed upon the head of an Ethiopian carrying a gun it is put into perspective, the relevance of it all. The works are also aesthetically balanced and greatly executed with magnificent usage of colour, which is wonderful as Mosse uses a one shot only policy. I think that Mosse's work deserves to be appreciated not only in this situation but also on a far grander scale.

Ironically the winner of the prize, quite similar with his bold angle was Di Liu whose work is outstanding yet outlandishly criticizes Lacoste by saying that it is against nature but skates around this by claiming that, as Lacoste uses an animal as its logo it therefore reflects nature’s spirit. Di Liu's work shows us 3 photographs of urban China; however the dominating features in these pieces are the tremendously large animals that take center stage, the rabbit, rhino and deer which without consent immediately grab your eye and thought.

All in all the participants have created some great work which is innovative and brave. I hope, however that the artists do not get swallowed by the marketing industry.