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| My Hands are My Heart, 1991 |
Orozco was one of those artists that I was only dimly aware of, and as it turns out was mostly acquainted with his less interesting work.
Well not any longer, the Tate Modern retrospective showcases work from almost the last twenty years and introduces us to a thoughtful, playful artist. Orozco has a real gift for transforming simple materials or processes into complex thought provoking artworks.
Personally the highlights of the show were his recent obituary series (nameless strap lines taken from newspaper obituaries), both absurd compositions and a reflection on the futility of summing up a life in three or four words; Chicotes a collection of burnt out tyres collected from Mexico’s highways with pools of aluminium, evoking a very real sense of both violent memory and pathos; Lintels, sheets of lint collected from industrial clothes driers hung across the gallery, composed of fabric, skin and hair this work being both beautiful and faintly repellent whilst containing the organic detritus of countless individuals.
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| Chicotes, 2010 |
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| Lintels, 2001 |
Other works left me unimpressed, for example the geometric drawings and paintings, yes I understood the logic behind them but ultimately didn’t care. Still, perhaps this is to be expected from an artist who works across so many mediums and genres.
Part of the charm of Orozco’s work, when it works, is the very human and accessible scale, (Think of the lift cut down to his own height or a ball of plasticine rolled through the streets that weighs as much as the artist) and the simplicity of the gesture employed.
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| Yielding Stone. 1992 , Plasticine |
This show covers a range of emotive responses, from the preoccupation with destruction and decay mentioned earlier, to the joy of a game with no rules in Carambole with Pendulum or the simple need for companionship evident in Until You Find Another Yellow Schwalbe.
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| Carambole with Pendulum 1996 |
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| Until You Find Another Yellow Schwalbe (detail). 1995, Forty chromogenic color prints |
On balance a very impressive exhibition and one that I cannot recommend enough.
Sam
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