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HIDEKO INOUE, Horse trader, oil on canvas
Caron Geary, Catch Me before I Fall, Mariko, C- Print
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HIDEKO INOUE
S.T.O.R.A.G.E: CARON GEARY
29 JUNE- 28 JULY 2007
The Agency is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings by the
Japanese artist Hideko Inoue, who lives between Osaka and Glasgow.
Hideko Inoue’s paintings are conceptually derived from amateur photographic
sources, largely family snaps, which are both Japanese and European in
origin. She paints them in oils, literally and dispassionate. Staying
true to her original source results in odd lighting in her work, as the
photographs are often mistakenly taken against the sun therefore leaving
the faces in the dark. These ideosyncracies add an interesting dimension
to her works, which also takes them beyond realism. Inoue’s approach
reflects her position of being both within and without European and Japanese
society. She approaches her motives from an almost voyeuristic point of
view, yet exposes a level of intimacy with her subjects a tourist would
never reach. Often in reproducing snapshots of theme park landscapes her
work will feature a naturalistic reproduction of scenes of overwhelming
beauty coupled with the insertion of smiling and chattering groups of
Japanese tourists. In Waterfall II where at the bottom of a large natural
waterfall, a small group of people is nestled admiring the view, so that
we as viewers of the work become the voyeurs observing others observing
nature. This double distancing procedure creates a startling result. Is
Inoue representing nature or observing social behaviour? When reproducing
European family snaps, which often seem to be from another era, a similar
treatment of motives is applied. Taxi, features a group of young people
posing on and in front of a black cab in Fifties clothing. The scene achieves
the same level of curiosity as the Japanese tourist snaps as we are equally
removed from ordinary life in the Fifties as we are from what tourists
may choose to view as representative of our environment. Rather than remaining
an examination of behaviourisms, the works’ timelessness and seeming
randomness, which is painted with technically astounding detail elevates
them to an iconic status. On the other hand the banality of images chosen
render them an astute representation of the mundane. Inoue surprises by
recognizing that at the level of collective memory there is no gap between
different cultural worlds but just degrees of separation.
CARON GEARY
The 28th June sees the launch of S.T.O.R.A.G.E, a small concept space
adjacent to the main exhibition area which will highlight the work of
newly discovered artists as well as experimental projects or film by established
artists. The first artist in the spotlight at S.T.O.R.A.G.E is photographer
and installation artist Caron Geary. “Catch me before I Fall “
is a series of portraits, which make the portrayed appear as if they are
in a wind tunnel. Actually the artist encouraged her subjects to hang
from the ceiling, therefore achieving the strange distortion of face hair
and clothing rendering the work almost sculptural in appeal. “Written
All Over Your Face” witnesses the emotive reactions of people whilst
watching films containing extreme violence pain or tension. Geary focuses
on their eyes as they are focussed on the small screen. It is clear again
that Geary has made her subjects complicit in the process, as they have
fake blood painted on their faces like wounds inflicted from getting too
close to the action on the screen. Geary fuses her own desire with that
of her subjects in the wish to extract powerful reactions like a film
or theatrical director. Even objects are dramatized in a theatrical fashion,
such as her wooden crosses with bloodied tampons on them [a welcome nod
to Judy Chicago and Karen Finlay]. Geary stretches photography to a performative
level, at once realist and passionate.
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