It has been a long pandemic with various damaging effects for many industries, not least the visual arts sector.
Although venues did their best to adapt by moving exhibitions and events online, it is a rather lacklustre replacement for being in a physical gallery space, observing and interacting with art in person.
This is especially true of contemporary art, which often combines still images with video, sound and installations – elements designed to evoke certain emotions that are difficult to convey online.
DCA reopening
It is no surprise, then, that the Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) team is “delighted” to welcome visitors back into the building with the unveiling of the new 2021-22 exhibitions programme.
The first events begin on Monday, running at the same time until November 21.
Visitors will be treated to Northern Irish artist Mary McIntyre’s debut solo exhibition in Scotland – Places We Think We Know, a new body of photographic work specially commissioned for the DCA.
Meanwhile the exhibition Chinbin Western brings the renowned Japanese artist Chikako Yamashiro’s practice, spanning performance, filmmaking and photography, also for the first time in Scotland.
Gallery
“As a team at DCA we are delighted to have our galleries open again”, said head of exhibitions Eoin Dara.
“Whilst there have been wonderful developments in digital engagement and online cultural offerings over the last year, there’s something that remains incredibly special about being able to experience artworks in the flesh.
“We are remaining agile and responsive in developing ways for audiences to engage through both online and in-person events.
“Over the course of Mary and Chikako’s exhibitions there are online talks, discussions and reading groups, as well as in-person (socially-distanced) curator tours and screenings in our cinemas.”
Mary McIntyre
Mary McIntyre’s exhibition presents the viewer with a series of photographs of interior spaces – rooms which appear empty and unremarkable at first sight.
Upon closer inspection, however, they reveal a rich tapestry of previous occupation by unknown inhabitants through clues such as frayed and discoloured carpet tiles, stained walls, make-shift partitions, and disturbed dust and detritus.
The photographs will be accompanied by a series of large-scale installations and electronic music compositions by Sean McBride of Martial Canterel, made in response to the artist’s photographs.
Installations
“I’m interested in the idea of one art form reflecting another, as though they are in conversation with each other”, says Mary.
“The installations in the gallery include a black, dense stand-alone curtain making a large V shape. The idea is to use fabric to create an echo of the spaces shown in the photographs.
“These are rooms with no natural light, with old, frayed carpets, with the focus being on the corners of the rooms.
Photographs
“My work is very much intuitive – I didn’t deliberately set out to photograph specific things.
“I photograph what I’m drawn to, and often that is spaces that are on the edges, forgotten, dilapidated.
“My past work includes landscapes, but this exhibition is very much about interior spaces. They are both physical and psychological – it’s about the emotions they invoke.”
Chikako Yamashiro
Meanwhile, Chikako Yamashiro’s Chinbin Western focuses on overlooked or unheard voices, specifically the marginalised histories in the East Asian region.
At the centre of this exhibition is the European premiere of Yamashiro’s latest film Chinbin Western: Representation of the Family.
The film is an allegorical tale that weaves together comic satire, mining landscapes, opera, traditional Japanese theatre and domestic lives.
Chinbin Western: Representation of the Family
“Chikako’s films respond to important political and environmental concerns of our time”, explains Kirsteen McDonald, the guest curator behind the exhibition.
“She present ideas specific to her homeland, the Japanese islands of Okinawa, where there are ongoing conflicts around land ownership and U.S. military occupation, and how this impacts on local culture.
“She had been interested in exploring the connections between life in Okinawa and political debates in Scotland around the Trident nuclear defence system and historical land ownership.
Okinawa
“After year of very limited movement, this exhibition transports Scottish audiences into a different place throughout the landscape and languages of Okinawa presented in her video works.
“They offer a very different perspective on the normal tourist presentation of these islands as an exotic beach paradise.”
Places We Think We Know and Chinbin Western are on from August 21 until November 21, 2021 at DCA, Dundee.
