Susie Green, Play Time at Union Gallery, London E2 – Somewhere in the hinterlands beyond the Hackney Road on the Bethnal Green side of things you find Union, a small white cube in the front room of a terrace house – do we have hinterlands in that part of East London? We’re surely too far from the river, the canal or anything else? Do like this rather informally formal gallery in these almost secret back streets and we did recommend this show earlier this week, one of our five, it looked like it would be fun, Susie Green’s work always looks like fun, we’re rushiing over from other openings in other places….
Susie Green’s looks playful, a little more that just that though, she does kind of play with the viewer – “Green’s work often has an amped-up, biographical form, with commanding characters taking up space unapologetically. Throughout her work, empowerment through dress, fetish, and disguise returns as a regular preoccupation, with bodies adorned in preparation for scenarios of pleasure, abandon, and release. Figures are shapeshifting and expansive, often appearing on the brink of transcending the confines of their skin or melting into contained worlds…” – the words from the gallery do kind of tell you, well no, the images do the telling, the words kind of back it up what you already read on the canvases on the wall.
And here we are in this small white cube in the back streets of one of the not so edgy parts of Bethnal Green. Four very white walls with mostly large canvases, big images, with play, with images that play, ideas? A scenario or two? Does it depend on how you read them? Submissively maybe? They are powerful, fluid – fluid in the way they’re painted, in the way the paint at some point was so so wet. They are playful paintings, not heavy, not demanding – they do demand a smile and yes, the colours are far far brighter than those that usually fill the world of dominance and submission, the dark reds and blacks you usually find, Ms Green’s offering is an unconventional one, those high heels and ball gags come with soft watery edges and those bright washy watery colours, she’s come with her own set of rules, her own way to play, her invite maybe?
All but one of the paintings are life size, it feels like the scale, the relationship with the viewer, is in some kind of way important, that those conversations with the pieces on the gallery wall are supposed to be eye to eye (or bowed if required?). There’s a playful dynamic here, an intrigue, you kind of want to know more, you want to let your imagination flow with the watery paint and the way it was painted. I imagine she had the big canvases flat on the studio floor, that it was a fast process, quite a performance in itself – these paintings are so deliciously fluid, bold, bright, under control though, she has it under control, the paintings are on her terms and there’s an almost knowing strength in her lightness, a strength in the way Susie Green has painted these delightfully powerful pieces, the way she’s controlled them as she lets them flow (oh the undercurrents, insert smiley emoji here). This is playful, play time indeed and yes, I do need to go back on a day when things are quiet – this was the opening night, wine and conversation was flowing, views were obscured, need to go and stand in the room with nothing but the paintings, there’s just something about them that demands it. A rather recommended exhibition, a rather enjoyable experience (sw)
Union Gallery is found at 94 Teesdale Street, London, E2 6PU. The gallery is open midday until 6pm Tuesday to Saturday. Susie Green‘s exhibition runs until 19th October 2024.
As always do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show. Actually these photos are dull, the colours are brighter than this, I do need ot go back…
THE ORGAN 
9 responses to “ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile and yes, the colours are far far brighter than those that usually fill the darker world of dominance and submission..”
[…] Hales have their London space open for East End Day, their current show has been open for a couple of weeks now and well, it has been visited already and our policy is to only cover things when we have something positive to offer in terms of what we’ve seen. When something excites we’ll shout about it, if it doesn’t then on the whole we’ll leave it alone. Hales say they are “delighted to announce Family Album, a solo exhibition by Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke. The artist’s sixth solo show with the gallery brings together new and historical works, highlighting a key arc of exploration in Locke’s practice — the iconography of royalty” and well let’s politely say we didn’t cover it when it opened, the Queen Mother and Princess Di didn’t do it for us. I’m guessing Union was open, been there and done that a couple of times now, should have gone again though, really should have ended the day with Susie Green’s excellent paintings, that would have been the thing to brighten East End Day, really should have gone back for more, those paintings are full of life… Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile and yes, the c… […]
[…] Hales have their London space open for East End Day, their current show has been open for a couple of weeks now and well, it has been visited already and our policy is to only cover things when we have something positive to offer in terms of what we’ve seen. When something excites we’ll shout about it, if it doesn’t then on the whole we’ll leave it alone. Hales say they are “delighted to announce Family Album, a solo exhibition by Guyanese-British artist Hew Locke. The artist’s sixth solo show with the gallery brings together new and historical works, highlighting a key arc of exploration in Locke’s practice — the iconography of royalty” and well let’s politely say we didn’t cover it when it opened, the Queen Mother and Princess Di didn’t do it for us. I’m guessing Union was open, been there and done that a couple of times now, should have gone again though, really should have ended the day with Susie Green’s excellent paintings, that would have been the thing to brighten East End Day, really should have gone back for more, those paintings are full of life… Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile and yes, the c… […]
[…] ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile a… […]
[…] Previously at Union – Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile and yes, the c… […]
[…] some of this is not that far removed from Susie Green’s equally serious equally playful Play Time show of late last year at Union Gallery or maybe some of Emma Harvey‘s work maybe? There’s […]
[…] ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile a… […]
[…] ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile a…As always, do click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show… […]
[…] ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile a… […]
[…] ORGAN THING: Susie Green’s Play Time at East London’s Union Gallery – they do demand a smile a… […]