Meekyoung Shin at Haunch of Venison

And so to Piccadilly, with Lisa, to see Meekyoung Shin's pots made of soap.

Haunch of Venison London is exhibiting "a significant number of installations" by the Korean artist, in which "virtuoso facsimiles of Chinese porcelain and Western classical sculpture are reinterpreted in soap."

"In Translation Vases (2009), Shin reproduces several pieces of highly collectable porcelain – produced in China since the 16th century for consumption in the West – translating the form directly from the original. By rendering these precious objects in a seemingly fragile and transient material such as soap, Shin questions the authority and originality the original vases demand. Presenting new vases on the packing crates in which they are shipped from location to location further emphasises the sense of dislocation and transformation."

Also showing is Ghost Series, "a landscape of more than 200 translucent vessels resembling coloured glass". This "further evolves the notion of transience of the original by stripping the forms of both their perceived solidity and their decorative markings, leaving only an echo of the original form."

Also showing are earlier works where Shin has reworked classical Western sculpture in soap. In Aphrodite below, the figure has been exposed to the weathering of the elements, "disintegration mirroring that suffered over time by ancient sculpture created in seemingly more durable materials."

I particularly like this collapsed pot...

Also showing was German artist Susanne Kuhn. Wasn't so keen, except for this detail in the much larger "Green: The Arnolfinis" (2011) Acrylic on canvas.

...and Swiss artist Uwe Wittwer, which I mostly liked...

Uwe Wittwer, Still life negative after Melendez, oil on canvas

Uwe Wittwer, Interior, oil on canvas

The Haunch of Venison also has a bookshop in which is hung a fabulous lighting installation by Stuart Haygarth. Haygarth exhibited here in February 2010 with a show called Found, which showcased his ongoing relationship with arbitrary and abandoned objects. More of his work here. 

Lisa and I were of course delighted with this, being inveterate mudlarkers who come across a lot of abandoned objects.

All three shows run till 2 April 2011. For more information go to Haunch of Venison website.
Text above quoted from accompanying material from exhibition.

-o-

From Piccadilly to the South Bank...and the Hayward for British Art Show 7: In the Days of the Comet, running until 17 April. Perhaps we were tired, but we didn't enjoy much of it, despite the great reviews. See the website here.

However, we very much enjoyed Christian Marclay's The Clock (which would appeal to anyone) and I liked the Sarah Lucas pieces...We are also fond of Roger Hiorns for his South London council flat installation where every surface was invaded by the crystallisation of copper sulphate, but not particularly for the piece he shows here. This piece is the main promotional image of BAS7, a naked man perching on a park bench looking at a flame. Many people will miss it since it only occurs at unspecified intervals. Most of the time, they will just see the bench, cordoned off. I crept out of yet another boring film, leaving Lisa determined to watch "at least one film all the way through", and came upon the live installation complete with naked boy and flame. Photography is totally verboten in the Hayward (unlike Haunch of Venison where they probably realise any publicity is good publicity), but I thought I would get a quick snap of naked boy and flame since it is such a transitory experience. Immediately I was pounced upon by a Hayward steward who asked me to delete the picture. I was so shocked by this, I actually couldn't remember how to delete a picture (the camera is pretty new and I'm still finding my way round it). In the end the woman, who I wouldn't be surprised to see in Prisoner Cell Block H, decided she couldn't wait for me to stop fumbling about since she might miss the opportunity to stop someone else.