The Week UK - 29.02.2020

ARTS 35

29 February 2020 THE WEEK

Art

SteveMcQueenis

“emphaticallynot

anartisttobetidied

intocategories”,said

RachelCampbell-

JohnstoninThe

Times.Sincehe

madehisnamein

thelate 19 90s,he

hasbecomeequally

famousbothasa

videoartistandas

acinemadirector;

heremainstheonly

persontohavewon

boththeTurner

PrizeandanOscar.

Thisnewshowis

hisfirstmajorart

exhibitionintheUK

since1999,andit

bringstogether 14 ofhis“subtlyatmospheric”filmpieces.

Together, theyleaveyouinno doubtthat“McQueenisan

artistwhomakesworkthat matters”.Fromhisearliestfilms,

youseehisability “toseizethemoment,findrichnessin adetail

oracircumstance”, said AdrianSearle inTheGuardian.Take

Exodus,shotin 1992 ,in which hefollowstwoelderlyWest

Indianmenastheycarrypalms theyhavebought ataflower

marketthrough the East Endcrowds,“sometimesdisappearing

except fortheir pork pie hats andthe pottedplants”.Youfeel

hiswork“inthe body aswellas the head”. InStatic,from2009,

acameracirclestheStatue ofLibertyinahelicopter–“showing

thebirdshitandtherotinthebronze, thesound ofhelicopter

bladesthwapping”.

McQueen’sbestwork isunquestionably powerful,saidTabish

Khanon Londonist.com.Avideo portrait ofthe singerTricky

recordinginaBristol

musicstudiois

“intimateand

pulsatingwithraw

emotion”;better

stillis7thNov.,

the“devastating”

testimonyofaman

whoaccidentally

shothisown

brother.These

outstandingpieces,

though,are

outnumberedby

“ponderous”and

“inaccessible”videos

thatsmackofself-

indulgence:one

consistsofalong

close-upofthe

actressCharlotte

Rampling’seye;anothergivesusaten-minuteloopofMcQueen

tugginghisownnipple. Theshowleftmefeeling“physicallyand

mentallydrained–andnotinagoodway”.

There aresomemisfires here,saidLauraCummingin The

Observer–suchas the show’ssingle non-videowork,a

sculpturecomposedof “agildedmosquitonetover aprison bed”,

whichsupposedlyalludestoOscar Wilde’stime inReadingGaol.

But McQueenisclearly agreatartistofthehumanfigure “under

duress”. Take 2002’sWestern Deep,forinstance.Filmedin

aSouthAfrican goldmine2.4miles underground,it portrays

miners descendinginto“broiling”subterraneandepthswhere

the distinctionbetweendayandnight ceases toexist.McQueen’s

camera attempts tograsp“whatisnearlyincomprehensibletothe

rest ofus–the conditionsofapenalcolony far belowthe earth”.

This“masterpiece”is just one highlight ofasuperbexhibition.

Exhibition of the week Steve McQueen

Tate Modern, London SE1 (020-7887 8888, tate.org.uk). Until 11 May

Over thepastdecade, JimMoir

(b.1959)–better knownasthe

comedianand actor Vic Reeves –

hasearned considerablerespectfor

hispaintings, which translatethe

dadaist,vaguelysinisterhumour of

hisTVshowsontocanvas. This new

show,Romance,features some

characteristically off-beat paintings

anddrawings:naiffiguresdepicted

alongside surrealbitsoftext,portraits

of gurning celebritiesandcartoons of

superheroes inimprobably mundane

situations. Yetmuch here departs from

thewackiness of Moir’sestablished

template, confirmingthat heis not

merelyplaying for laughs.Aseriesof

oilsketchesof birds, for example, is

reminiscent of thequietly enigmatic

styleof thelate Craigie Aitchison, while

anumberof scenes combining pastoral

settings with healthy dosesof

grotesqueriearetruly striking–think

Boucher meets Basquiat. Moir’s

enthusiasm forart historicalpastiche

mightbe abit muchforsome, buton

thewhole, it’s averylikeable show.

Pricesrange from£280to£6,500.

35 BuryStreet, London SW1

(020-74847979). Until4March.

Static(2009):acameracirclingtheStatueofLiberty

Where to buy...

The Week reviews an

exhibition inaprivate gallery

Jim Moir

at Grosvenor Gallery

Self-Portrait with Parrot (2019) £2,500

Theartworldprides

itselfonitstolerance

and free-thinking. But

in reality, itseems,

intoleranceis rife, says

RichardMorrison in

The Times. Last week,

the ArtsProfessional

website published

Freedom of Expression,

a“jaw-dropping”

report based onalarge,

anonymous survey.Itf ound that nearly80%of

arts professionals agreed with the view that

“workers in thearts whoshare controversial

opinions risk being professionally ostracised”. It

seems you can speakfreely only if you conform

to anarrowsetofpolitical and social views.

Anyone whosupports Brexit,oraright -wing

party, is likely to be“bullied into silence”. The

arts, saidonerespondent, are “dominated by

amonolithic politically correct class”. Entire

subjects, from religion tosexuality and gender,

are “no-go areas”. Public funding raisesits own

problems. “If you are criticaloft he Government

or ArtsCouncil, you are probably putting your

organisation at risk,” saidanotherparticipant.

It seems that the art worldhascast aside “the

principle that dissent, andthe tolerance of

dissent,is vital toanation’s cultural life”.

Aculture of conformity?

©STEVE MCQUEEN. COURTESY THE ARTIST, THOMAS DANE GALLERY AND MARIAN GOODMAN GALLERY