Spaghetti Gazetti: At the Ikon

Monday, 8 February 2010

At the Ikon

Susan Collis

Enter, us, 2009

18 carat white gold (hallmarked), white sapphire, turquoise

Courtesy of the artist and Seventeen, London

Susan Collis

Since I fell for you

31 March – 16 May 2010

Ikon presents the most comprehensive exhibition to date of work by emerging British artist Susan Collis. Her practice involves the representation of everyday objects, made through a painstaking use of ‘craft’ processes and precious materials.

The idea of the double take (trompe l'oeil), whereby we are required to look again, is crucial to its proposition, as our expectations are confounded by reality.

At first glance the exhibition space appears empty, not yet ready for visitors. Through closer inspection however, it discloses the artist’s subtle interventions. We start to see various gestures and objects, wonderful touches that betray her preoccupation with processes of production.

An ambitious new commissionThis too shall pass (2010) is at the centre of the exhibition. Imitating a partly dismantled temporary wall, various remnants – holes, screws, Rawlplugs, adhesive tape, staples, paint splashes, splintered wooden door jambs and hinges – are faithfully copied through the use of exotic materials.

Elsewhere, Cursed with a Soul (2007), a worn table appearing covered with flecks of paint, is in fact delicately inlaid with pearls, opals and magnecite. Better Days (2007), an apparently paint-stained and discarded dust-sheet, reveals itself to be meticulous embroidery, rather than the result of an accident.

The playful positioning of pieces such as Age old story and Forever Young (both 2009) in overlooked areas of the gallery only encourages our initial misreadings and at the same time introduces an intriguing narrative. Each piece is a mix of seemingly casually piled scraps or waste leaning against walls. Oddments of DIY pine and MDF board are in fact expensive hardwoods and veneers – for example, ebony, white holly, birds-eye maple and cedar of Lebanon – held together by nails of gold and silver or stacked and ‘stained’ with amber, topaz and jasper.

The wit of Collis' work lies in the time-consuming effort required of her to produce useful-looking useless objects. She shows us beautiful simulations of things that are usually concealed in art exhibitions.

A new publication will provide the first critical in-depth analysis of her work with an essay by Ikon curator, Nigel Prince. The exhibition will tour to the Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool in 2011.