Gallery Review: Polytechnics at Raven Row

Polytechnics is a moving image art gallery on Artillery Lane, EC1. It features work from the early 1980’s and late 1970’s that was all recorded with new technology on video cameras. Work from contemporary (at the time)  filmmakers and photographers are exhibited in the gallery from artists such as John Adams, Stuart Marshall, Graham Young, Susan Hiller, Ian Breakwell, Cordelia Swann, Roberta Graham, Catherine Elwes, Steve Hawley, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Ian Bourn and David Critchley.


Pictures and more after the jump.



David Critchley, Pieces I Never Did, 1979



Formal and structuralist work defined much experimental practice of the period. ‘Polytechnic’ explores how some artists developed new approaches to engage with personal concerns, and to reflect the social and political worlds in which they lived. Many of these artists were directly informed by contemporary debates in left politics, gay politics and feminism, and were engaging with a culture undergoing a profound change marked by the emergence of Thatcherism.

http://www.ravenrow.org/current/



Roberta Graham's Campo Santo, 1981



‘Polytechnic’ developed from a number of conversations between Alex Sainsbury, the director of Raven Row and myself over a couple of years before the gallery opened in 2009... Polytechnic however is not intended as a historical survey of the period or of the area of engagement. There are many important works and artists that are not shown here.

From the handout - from the 'Polytechnic' handout

Walking through the gallery, I often found myself lost. Not geographically, but meaning that I just did not understand the purpose of ANY of the artists’ work. It may have all been too abstract for me to engage with. The gallery workspace was, I must say, very spacious but welcoming. The way that the artists’ work is exhibited is really good. A slide show called ‘Mysteries of Berlin’ by Cordelia Swann was projected on to a wall in a large empty room surrounded by corridors with soundproof soft walls. So when you watch the slide show, all you hear is the pictures transitioning on the old-fashioned projector. 



Cordelia Swann's Mysteries of Berlin (1979-82) was in interesting insight into peoples lives.



Overall, I enjoyed walking around the gallery and the work in it. Many of the videos were interviews and stories being read and were all around twenty minutes long which was jarring. I do think that it is nice to see something different in a moving image art gallery. It is nice that this gallery has dedicated its space to exhibiting moving image art and where it all began.