Today I took my first ever visit to the new Liverpool Open eye
gallery. Here I saw the two main exhibitions at present – Mark Morrisroe and Kohei
Yoshiyuki’s The Park. My initial impression of the gallery being a first time
visitor was very positive; I appreciated the smallness of the gallery, as
consequently, I felt it made it easier to engage with the pieces on a more
personal and intimate level. I also admired the innovative architectural
design of the gallery, which currently has one its façades adorned with the
work of Sinta Tantra, as part of the Biennial. With its lurid colours and sharp
geometrical design this work provides a bold aesthetic welcome to visitors of
the gallery.
When first arriving my initial intention was to visit the Mark
Morrisroe exhibition, but as I proceeded to walk through the gallery I was
greeted by a gallery invigilator who prompted me to see the work of Kohei
Yoshiyuki. Having not known anything about Yoshiyuki’s exhibition I was
certainly surprised when I was informed that it was in the dark. Subsequently
handed a torch, I walked into the exhibition space and immediately felt, if
anything, rather apprehensive – the whole room was pitch black! Nevertheless,
the purpose and effectiveness of this curatorial feature would later be
recognised.
All
of the images displayed in the exhibition take place in dark, ominous scenes
and capture both heterosexual and homosexual couples engaging in sexual
activities whilst voyeurs watch on. The exhibition space, being in
complete darkness, mimics the lighting within the photographs and therefore
prompts the viewer to feel as though they inhabit the work themselves. Viewers
are invited to illuminate the images, which involve some sort of voyeuristic
scenario, and this makes them feel as though they have made some sort of
unwelcome intrusion themselves. The viewer has the choice to either
reveal the images or to leave them unseen in the darkness, therefore their
sense of curiosity and intrigue is challenged. I personally believe that
the piece centralises around the idea of wanting to intrude into the personal
circumstances of others. I believe that this is a very engaging subject matter,
as we are after all, living in an age when the likes of the internet and social
networking have stripped us of our privacy and allow us to virtually obtrude
into the lives of others. The transition from the Yoshiyuki exhibition to
the Morrisroe exhibition was quite a vivid contrast – I had quite literally
stepped out of complete and utter darkness into an colourful, brightly lit
exhibition space with various photograms produced from x-rays of Morrisroe’s
own body and other ephemera adorning the walls.
I
particularly appreciated how the expressionistic nature and rawness
encapsulated within Morrisroe’s work was juxtaposed with an orderly and
systematic curatorial approach. At the same time, the brightly painted
walls of the exhibition space really reflected and complimented the bright
palette that had been incorporated into a majority of the pieces. Despite
contrasting exhibition spaces I did draw in some contextual parallels between
this exhibition and Yoshiuki’s. Just as Yoshiyuki’s Exhibition, there was a
significant emphasis on sexuality, as quite a lot of Morrisroe’s photograms
incorporated cuttings from pornographic magazines. Similarly, homoerotic
imagery was yet another distinct thematic parallel. Thus, we come to the
inevitable understanding that it is the raw, animalistic nature of unrepressed
sexual desire that powerfully correlates these aesthetically divergent artists.
