Review: Pete and Repeat

Pete & Repeat  176  London

17 September –  13  December  2009  ArtLyst Review Bites

Another must see exhibition mounted by 176 North London's most exciting new gallery space. So often you leave an exhibition with an empty, ‘what was that all about feeling’? Not with this one. The Zabludowicz Collection wows us with a selection from their ever-expanding collection of 21st century art. The aptly titled, Pete and Repeat explores the theme "repetition." This gallery space is perfect for this investigation, which utilizes both multi-media and traditional materials in the work on view.
The difference between 176 and the new Saatchi gallery in Chelsea is the variety of spatial challenges the architecture presents. Tom Wolf, in his article The Painted Word stated, “The most important piece of 20th century sculpture is the art gallery”. He was referring to the slick white walls and track lighting, which was the late 20th century norm. The Saatchi Gallery embraces this with gusto. 176 seem to be the antithesis to the Saatchi, by allowing the Art to blend in a more urban environ. The walls and floors are in their original worn state and the art is hung in an interesting juxtaposition dictated by the now deconsecrated church.
I was especially taken with the installation by Ai Weiwei titled, “Ghost Gu Coming Down The Mountain”, 2005, a work consisting of 96 glazed ceramic pots all with enlarged blue and white detailing taken from Yuan period pottery. Other items of note are John Baldessari’s Two Astronauts /Beach Scene from the 2002 Intersection Series. The work takes two unrelated subjects allowing your imagination to bring them together in the middle, again this works well in the context of the 176 space as does Falk Haberkorns photographs of the forest which challenge our preconceptions of nature.