Bonjour, or more like ‘Sacrebleu’, went for a wander the other day and copped an eye full of Art.

BNP Paribas Home Page Aug 2009

I managed to catch the end of Sarah Hughes’ worldwide Optimism show in Sutton. The Auckland-based  artist’s work comes from her interest in economics, contemporary social parameters, our the digital age, with the endless flow of information, processed through her investigation of colour. The most exciting aspect of the show was the image. It seemed to concretely express all of her ideas simply through abstracted colour prints. Sifting through the Home page of BNP Paribas she dissects the colour palate, describing the make up of the website through a different set of semiotics, forcing you to consider the makeup of these corporations.

The Margret Lawrence show was Lamp/ Table/ Chair/ Big Painting. Another show that tries to reinvigorate Kippenbergers’ The happy ending of Franz Kafaka’s novel Amerika. Again There seemed to be something missing from the plot. The artworks individually were considered, with great enthusiasm and attention material. What ever happened to autonomy? Why can’t an exploration of material be convincing enough? have a look here for a quick pan around the space that I took Margaret Lawrence Gallery. tell me what you think.

And last but by no means least Utopian Slumps, and I must humble myself and eat my own words, because the Mischa Hollenbach (14 May – 5th June) was brilliant, and not just because of the neon lights! with different aspects of his practice on display they all had a certain irreverence but all had such delicate detailing and overt deliberation. His mixing of small intimate sculptures with large prints that were cut and collaged together, and even these diverse works has a certain unity in their making that I enjoyed and which created a certain feeling in the space.