Reykjavík Grapevine - 22.05.2015, Blaðsíða 39

Reykjavík Grapevine - 22.05.2015, Blaðsíða 39
The Nordic House Reykajavík is a vibrant nordic cultural institution with exhibitions, a library, shop and one of the best restaurants in Reykjavik, Aalto Bistro. The building is designed by the internationally aclaimed finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Open everyday, all year from 12–17 Visit www.nordichouse.is for more information Book your tour: nh@nordice.is Book a table: www.aalto.is Sundays – Wednsdays 11–17 Thursdays – Saturdays 11–21 Enjoy food Enjoy books Enjoy culture Enjoy the Nordic House Norræna húsið The Nordic House A journey through the visual world of Iceland The Culture House Hverfisgata 15 101 Reykjavík The exhibition, shop and café are open daily 10 - 17 Closed on Mondays 16/9 – 30/4 Illuminated manuscripts, textiles, carvings, photographs, paintings and contemporary Icelandic art www.culturehouse.is The Culture House is part of the National Museum of Iceland Hafnarhúsið, on Reykjavík’s waterfront, is a beautiful building. Once home to the city’s har- bour offices, it’s now the largest of the Reykjavík Art Museum’s three sites, dedicated to con- temporary art in its manifold forms. Past the large sliding doors and airy lobby and up some stairs, gallery number six is a particular hive of activity. Behind an “installation in progress” sign, Korean-American artist Kathy Clark bobs around busily, leading an industrious crew as they transform the white cube space into another world entirely. The show is Kathy’s first major solo show in Iceland, her adopted homeland of the last ten years. In contrast to the minimal- ism of Hafnarhúsið’s architecture, her installation is an explosion of shapes, textures, colours and sounds. The gallery is teeming with tall heaps of teddy bears, hundreds of which have been individual- ly coated in wax, giving them a pale, spec- tral appearance. In one corner, lights are being hung behind some hanging gates, creating an enclosed bear heaven; in an- other, a pot of wax bubbles away beneath a wall-mounted tree sculpture dotted with bear cocoons. Even at the half-built stage, it’s already a sensory overload on an ambitious scale. Teddy bears know things Kathy started collecting bears three years ago. “I stumbled across a crate of them at the Good Shepherd,” she recalls. “I like objects that have a history, when you can see the age and the deterioration. I use my storeroom as my palette, and go out to charity shops looking for things that inspire me.” In particular, the intense connection that children have with their early toys sparked Kathy’s interest. “These bears aren’t new,” she explains. “They’re used, once-loved, once-cuddled bears that were a very high priority in a child’s life. They were taken to bed, and talked to— they consoled children when they cried. They each have a story. These bears col- lected the presence of the child. They know things. I thought about what they would tell us if they could. The show sort of became an exploration of that secret life, amongst other things.” Kathy walks me around the resulting world. Against one wall lies a row of emp- tied furs, each one inverted and stitched with a line of poetry that reveals a glimpse into the story of its former owner. “These are the observations of the bears,” ex- plains Kathy. “The stories are perhaps based on people that I know, or have been a part of my life. These are the bears’ se- crets. Some are nice, but some are not so nice.” She surveys the skins, gesturing to each, and reading them out. “This one says ‘My human child never questioned life and was not resistant to influences.’ And this one says ‘My human child suf- fered with complete composure.’” Finding a path The room is dotted with cairn-forms, of the type found in Iceland’s landscape, all made from waxed bears. It’s a neat meta- phor for finding a path, whether it’s the bears finding their way back from chari- ty-shop abandonment, or the viewer find- ing a path back into their personal child- hood experience through Kathy’s work. But either way, the endpoint of some bears’ journey is in the exhibition’s cem- etery corner. “These are the carcasses,” says Kathy, gesturing to more emptied, crumpled furs. “Each one has a memory marker... I took out their stuffing, and shaped it into these bears up here.” She gestures to some clouds of shaped stuff- ing, suspended amongst lights. “They are the ghost bears, going up, and the carcass- es stay below.” The exhibition’s different sections reveal a long train of thought about the potential of abandoned toys as both a lan- guage and as a medium, with all the per- mutations connected by the internal logic of the exhibition’s world. A larger bear covered in black lines represents a guide, accompanied by recorded bear growls; another piece is a crib that’s embroidered with a quote from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’. The room is lined with bears that have been distorted, dissected, or bound tightly into unrecognisable shapes, offering darkly psychological glimpses into what can befall children on their path into adulthood. “As an artist, I have many things I want to share,” explains Kathy. “A lot of it is deeply psychological and emotional, using this metaphor of the bear. I have other works I want to make—a plant, an animal—but always the underlying aspect of work about being human, and what it entails to live, to have a day-to-day life and an emotional life.” God damn it you have to be kind The exhibition is the culmination of three years of work. I ask how it feels to be bringing such a large project, especially one that touches on such tender, personal subjects, to fruition. “I’m excited,” smiles Kathy. “I’ve been excited the whole time making the work. It’s been fun to be so industri- ous, I love making things. I have so many more things I wanna do. Installation was my passion when I was at the Art Insti- tute in San Francisco. I made some re- ally big works, almost as big as this one, but I started branching into other work, making smaller paintings, and eventually stopped altogether, for financial reasons. I mean, I was always making on the side. But now, I feel like I’m a re-emerging art- ist.” The effort has paid off: ‘bears; truths...’ is a simultaneously complex and accessi- ble piece that rewards sustained attention with rich layers of meaning. “It’s really all about us humans, how we travel the path of our life and the lessons we all learn,” says Kathy, brimming with enthusiasm. “What I’m hoping is that people take the time to not just see the work, but to expe- rience it. Maybe they’ll come away having been reminded of something from their own childhood.” As we finish our tour of the show, I realise that by shining a light onto diffi- cult psychological states, perhaps Kathy’s work also illuminates the first steps to un- derstanding, and even recovery. It seems suddenly like a generous undertaking. “Well, thank you,” she says. “I do so love to give, in every way. Not just in my art, but in life. It’s so important to give.” The Bearable Lightness Of Being Kathy Clark’s maximalist installation is a step into a dark symbolic world ART EXHIBITION May 21 - Oct 18 Reykjavík Art Museum, Hafnarhúsið‘bears; truths…’ Words John Rogers Photo Art Bicnick

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