Three arty things in May 2024
Local Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj at Kettle's Yard and the Heong Gallery. Ends 26 May 2024. Mind-challenging, conceptual, political.
Linked from Kettle's Yard.
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Giraffes. They call themselves a 'sculpture trail'. But are they really, though? They are a charity event, and on the 19 June you can bid for them, and before that, donate money. Every now and again, these animals appear; a few years ago, it was cows, and I've seen dinosaurs in Norwich. The animals are manufactured by 'Wild in Art', 'leading producers of spectacular, mass-appeal public art events' (source). The sculptures are made of 'lightweight, fire resistant fibreglass', finished with a white primer and ready to paint by local artists (source). So each CB giraffe is an identical mass-produced 3-D object that is then individually painted by a raft of artists. So the art really consists in a painting trail, not a sculpture trail as such. Although why can figures mass-produced by a company not be called 'sculpture'? Food for thought.
In the meantime, there are some more or less jolly giraffes hanging around in expected and unexpected places but, I have to say, giraffes don't really have much local resonance as creatures. At least the cows of a few years back had local live counterparts.
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There's always something exciting or sweet or intriguing at the unusual and tiny Bird Box Gallery in St Thomas' Square. In March it was Alistair Burgass's carved and painted sculpture. What will it be in May?
Source: Bird Box Instagram
© 2024
