21st July – 25th September
Haunch of Venison: 6 Burlington Gardens, London, W1S 3ET
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 10am – 6pm; Saturday, 10am – 5pm
Haunch of Venison has been taken over; from the top of its high ceilings to the curves of its archways and the crevices of its fireplaces, the place has been crocheted and knitted, cloaked in textiles and fabric, transformed into a colourful and strange wonderland. The artist behind the transformation is Joana Vasconcelos, a woman known for her playful creations that combine craft with sculpture.
Vasconcelos first caught the public’s attention in 2005 with her contribution to the Venice Biennale, A Noiva (The Bride). The enormous chandelier, which measured an impressive five metres high by two metres wide, was an elegant structure odd only in that it was constructed entirely from tampons. But it is a very different, far less traditional-looking chandelier that will first attract your attention when you enter Haunch’s grand atrium.
Mary Poppins is a soft sculpture made up of a patchwork of patterned fabric that will, despite its own bright colours, cast a strange sort of shadow over you as you walk underneath its bulky mass. It looks, from a far, like a sinister sort of octopus, with several long dangling arms outstretching from its padded centre as well as various kinds of tassels, plaits and beads. But rather than any kind of comment on deep sea life, the piece, with its excessive use of material, serves as a parody of the role of the house wife who is similarly tied to the structure of the home, expected to work fixing and making.
Victoria is another feminist-inspired soft sculpture. A monstrous hybrid of wasp, snake and woman, the installations ominous black drooping appendages are reminiscent of Louise Bourgeois’ spider Maman, however, it is said that it was actually inspired by Queen Victoria. Its many heads and tendons suspend ominously from the ceiling, whilst its snake-like tail winds around the room, with a patchwork skin of polyester, knitted fabric, buttons, bras and pompoms. The piece represents a subversion of the tradition female role, with typical feminine materials and a stereotypically female craft used to create a brutish masculine sort of monster.
Talking of feminine craft, it would be impossible to discuss this exhibition without some mention of Vasconcelos’ crochet sculptures. Piano Dentelle is one such sculpture and consists of a black baby grand piano and stool entirely covered (except for the keys) in white crochet. Other pieces include a whole host of crocheted beasts, from cats to crabs to cows, covered in various shades of yarn. There is Mago the cat who is poised, open mouthed and ready to pounce. The only thing stopping her attacking passers by is the pale yellow yarn, crocheted around her body like the net of a poacher. Rackam the lizard, on the other hand, is far more comfortable in his yarn. Lazily hanging off the wall, the lizard looks like he might be himself responsible for the pale blue camouflage that has over taken his skin. Then there is Scarlet the crab, whose shape makes her look like an oddly misshapen doyley with claws.
But, for all the political zeal of the soft sculptures and fun of the crocheted creatures, the highlight of the show has to be the gargantuan site-specific installation entitled Garden of Eden. Entering the utopian garden via a cloth covered door you will find yourself in a darkened room, confronted with a low-walled maze that is lit only by the glow of thousands of fibre optic flowers. Walking around this labyrinth of multi-coloured flora it is impossible to forget that the whole thing is made up of plastic and powered by electricity, with the faint humming of a generator ever-present in the background. This conflict, between natural beauty and unfeeling technology, is meant to question the bridge between the original utopian vision (Eden) and our hi-tech visions of the future. But despite the undeniable synthetic nature of the garden and the message which it is trying to convey, to me, this piece is as spectacular a sight to behold as many a landscaped space.
