The Uncanny is based on a project originally presented by Kelley more than a decade ago, which has been revised and updated for Tate Liverpool in close collaboration with the artist. Freud described the uncanny as ‘a hidden, familiar thing that has undergone repression and then emerged from it’. In The Uncanny, Kelley explores memory, recollection, horror and anxiety through the juxtaposition of a highly personal collection of objects – The Harems – with an investigation of the uncanny through realist figurative sculpture.
The central element of the exhibition consists of a substantial number of polychrome figurative sculptures, ranging from ancient Egypt and China to the present day which embody the feeling of the uncanny through their scale and use of colour, form and material. Kelley relates these to the idea of the ‘double’ – the disturbingly realistic representation of the human figure suspended between life and death. Artists represented include John de Andrea, Hans Bellmer, Judy Fox, Robert Gober, Duane Hanson, Damien Hirst, Edward Kienholz, Jeff Koons, Tony Matelli, Paul McCarthy, Ron Mueck, Tony Oursler, and many more. Non-art objects include a variety of historical and contemporary anatomical models, wax figures, animatronic puppets and stuffed animals. This section is complemented by a large collection of black and white documentary photographs depicting figurative sculptures from the Ancient world to the contemporary, including wax figures, Dada and Surrealist mannequins, film stills, newspaper clippings and cartoons whose imagery and subject matter evoke the sense of the ‘uncanny’.
Personally i find aspects of this exhibition inspirational towards that of my own practice. Although the context of this exhibition doesn’t conform to my own current topic of the female body entirely, i find the sculptural attributes of the exhibition intrigue my own artistic creativity. I am an artist who delves into the world of mixed media, so finding artists who incorporate this aspect within their practice, as well including aspects of the female body truly inspirational.
Looking in particular at Sarah Lucus’ Pauline Bunny, this was the initial inspiration to use materials, that we as females may actually use on a daily basis, without questioning it.
i adapted the idea of using stockings/tights within my own practice, for portraying the female body in a way to depict notions of hysteria within the female sex.
click here to see my work incorporating this material
I found Mike Kelley’s book on the Uncanny a great read, the chosen images are fascinating, there is a large range of featured artists within it also.
MIKE KELLEY – THE UNCANNY BOOK SLIDESHOW
KAYLEIGH ADAMS 