The Prude
Anthea Hamilton
Thomas Dane Gallery, 3 & 11 Duke Street, St. James's, SW1Y 6BN
7 MARCH - 18 MAY 2019
Free
I’d only heard of London-based British artist Anthea Hamilton once before. I took a trip to Tate Britain, and whilst walking through the galleries spotted a person dressed as a squash up on a podium. She was nominated for a Turner Prize in 2016 for her provocative and sexualised sculpture of a pair of hands parting two bum cheeks, and a pair of open legs enacting a doorway. Thus, when I heard she had a new exhibition entitled “The Prude”, I was intrigued: would it be completely different to her previous works? Or would it be an obscene irony to its name?
“The Prude” aims to depict scenes and contexts related to those who deprive themselves of sensory pleasures in life. The exhibition begins in the first building - number 3 Duke Street, and consists of large moth-like sculptures and painting. I’m not entirely sure what role the moth has in relation to prudishness, but it is definitely a sensory creature: being largely attracted to light and most of the time being really fluffy itself…
The moth’s ‘fluff’ is continued at number 11 Duke Street: a beautiful building with a small winding oak staircase up to the galleries. Here, we are presented with colourful fluffy walls - a perfect backdrop to a quick selfie, as you can see above… but again a confused and rather rogue relation to prudishness itself. Continued in this gallery is a series of monochrome photos in a black-walled room depicting a naked man, as well as some more big flying insects (butterflies this time). On top of this, there are some wooden and marble sculptures of boots: a common fetish and potentially the most sexualised shoe (definitely not for the Prude’s out there).
I can honestly say that I tried to understand the overview given online and in the gallery, but found myself at a loss with the pretentious waffle. Hamilton’s exhibition is a fun and easy one, which shouldn’t be over-complicated with meanings which simply don’t relate to the work. I’d go to take some fun snaps… not for an artistic revival.
OVERALL RATING: **
https://www.thomasdanegallery.com/m/exhibitions/216/
