Almost don’t won’t to post any photos of Permindar Kaur‘s first major solo show in London since the inclusion of her work in ‘At Home with Art’ at the Tate in 2000. To post the photos is to deprive you on the delight as you walk down the stairs and catch a first view of the show, this is brilliant. I really don’t want to know too much about the background or the meaning or any of the wordery or gallery statement or any of that art talk and stuff – this is a delight, the claws, the horns, the soft fabric figures that really are difficult to resist touching (I didn’t), A delight of a show, beautifully spaced and placed, and those spikes at the end of the legs, excellent, no more needs to be said, you have the photos down there, you can consider the spikes and… an excellent show, a fun show, a seriously good show…. (sw)
New Art Projects is at 6D Sheep Lane, Hackney, London, E8 4QS. The show runs until July 1st.
That gallery statement…
“Permindar Kaur’s work investigates integration and belonging, particularly cultural identity and childhood. Through the exploration of adaption, mimicry and mirroring, she examines different strategies of integration and assimilation. She aims to challenge cultural constraints, acceptability and the rejection of difference. A running theme throughout all the work has been protection and defence. Whether through the use of armour, daggers or claws, any method of defence is limited and self-defeating. Soft fabric figures wearing armour/ claws hang limply unstuffed, unable to fight or shield themselves.
In the most recent work from ‘Interlopers’ 2016, (University of Hertfordshire, UK), a large number of the artists’ hand crafted teddy bears took over the gallery space. Kaur often uses the teddy bears in her work not as toys but as more reflections on the present. Their identity is unclear but they are enticing frightening and seductive and en mass they are unnerving. She often combines extremely contrasting materials in her work, the softness of fabric and the aggressively sharp points of jagged metal. She alters everyday objects confusing the viewer, leaving them wondering if they are playful or dangerous”.
Click on an image to enlarge or run the slide show….
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