Rumour long foretold of an affluent, prestigious,
world-class, contemporary art gallery whose arrival in a small rural town in
Somerset was going to bring much joy, prosperity and branded re-useable tote
bags throughout the vale. Its name, Hauser and Wirth and we had all been
waiting with great expectation for the opening of its latest gallery in Bruton,
Somerset this summer. Sharing its name with its other established galleries in
London, New York and Zurich, Bruton might not seem like the obvious place for a
commercial city-based gallery to set up, but with a gap in the art map that
sees Bristol and Bath already hosting our largest contemporary art centres,
there was perhaps an opportunity to establish some of the arts market
elsewhere. And as the Somerset creative community have already proved, we
don’t let being rural get in our way and continue to ensure, ‘there’s art in
them thar hills’, often whether people love it/want it, support it or not! Maybe
it is our resilience superseded only by our beautiful scenery that inspired the
owners of Hauser and Wirth to bring a slice of the city to our middle of
nowhere! (or possibly that the gallery’s owners send their children to school
in Bruton?... although I prefer to think
it was a bit of both)
Whatever the reason, Hauser and Wirth's arrival provides a fantastic
opportunity to form new links between Somerset and the national/international
contemporary art world as well as encouraging
more tourism to the area. Now nearly a month has passed since it first opened its doors to the public I went
to visit and find out for myself if it all really was ‘wirth’ the wait (forgive
the puns, I can’t help myself!)
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| Subodh Gupta's 'Untitled' (2008) stainless steel bucket in the courtyard of Durslade Farm. |
Set in the grounds of Durslade Farm, (a former piggery,
barns and stables around a central courtyard) Hauser and Wirth boasts five
gallery spaces equating to a total 2483 square meters, a one and a half acre
meadow garden designed by Piet Oudolf, education rooms, studio spaces and
Bar/Bistro. It is hard to find fault as
it is, all without question, beautiful.
The standards of design, detail are high from the practical layout of the car-park
to courtyard entrance complete with its own outdoor sculptures; a giant stainless
steel bucket by Subodh Gupta and humongous bronze by Paul McCarthy (amongst others) to the
gallery rooms themselves which feature both contemporary white-walls and spaces
where they have retained the original barn features, beams and brick walls. The
bar and grill is one of the gallery’s unique highlights and features a bar made from a
mêlée of scavenged materials from railway tracks and fragmented paintings on
wood with an equally impressive cloakroom, described as ‘a unique installation’
made from industrial lockers and paint cans. I assume it is there to be
used...?
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| Paul McCarthy's 'Ship of Fools, Ship Adrift' (2009-2010) Bronze. |
Although this perfection comes at a cost too and I fear
its ‘middle-class chic’ could brand Hauser and Wirth Somerset as a place
stereotyped to the well-off, retired/middle aged or readers of Country Living
magazine. There is nothing wrong with any of those groups per say, as they do
make a significant majority of the audiences that view/invest in art in the
county (and indeed I have my suspicions they are one of the target audiences
Hauser and Wirth are looking to attract, after all they are a commercial
gallery) however even though I have studied and seen much art in my modest 27
years, I still felt slight trepidation created by the air of fanciness at Hauser and
Wirth, as though such a place was not for the likes of me, that my worthiness
of being there was somehow dependant on how many interior design books I owned
and kept on my Ikea coffee table (the answer is none by the way, I don’t even
own a coffee table!). This was, in part a misconception that was soon dispelled by the friendliness of the staff. I did just come to 'see the art', but as this post proves I
often find the context of the art world more distracting in than that of the art work itself.
I predict that attracting a wide variety of audiences is
Hauser and Wirth Somerset’s greatest challenge (and one that, notably, is
shared by many other arts institutions) especially now they are unable to rely on the passing
footfall of their naturally busy city venues, this rural and remote gallery will
need to ensure that they make an effort to attract and not isolate a wide
variety of audiences through its doors (a few road signs to it wouldn’t go
amiss either!?) Hauser and Wirth has been successful and got off to a good
start in the way it hasn’t just muscled its way into this community simply by
throwing its wealth around, it has employed local builders, artists, residents
and looked to the local town’s businesses for support and partnership. At
present it seems that they are achieving a diverse audience in having
learning/events programmes as well as residences with local artists that look to
engage with the wider community. I can only hope this is sustained and grown
upon in the opening months as it continues to live up-to its reputation and
forge new links within the South West.
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| Louise Bourgeois 'Spider' (1994) Bronze, silver nitrate and brown patina, granite. |
Its danger of inclusivity
could also be helped by the omission of some of its rules which are handed to you on
an information sheet on arrival. It feels a bit unnecessarily protective and a
negative way to welcome visitors, ‘Please do not drop litter’ being one inane
example. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have rules; I am perfectly mature enough
understand the sense of not dropping litter or need to protect thousands of
pounds of artwork from the onslaught of many fingers poking it, but if anything
fills me with a mischievous sense of anarchism it’s when rules are created at
the expense of trusting/assuming people have any common sense. Broadly speaking, it does highlight the
problem with Art gallery’s dictum of wanting more people to engage and interact
with them/ understand them, being met by their contradictory set of ‘Don'ts’,
“we want you to come into our gallery but whilst your here could you engage
with the art only by just looking at it, talking’s ok, just don’t do it too
loudly and make sure you don’t run, touch, climb, photograph anything but we
hope you’ve had an immersive experience.” Perhaps it is unfair of me to
vocalise this concern in a post about Hauser and Wirth when it is an issue that
affects many arts institutions. I just think that Hauser and Wirth can only
seek to gain and would not damage their image of being a professional gallery, by
relaxing some of their rules, trusting the general public and their gallery
stewards to protect the work. Relax a little!
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| Phyllida Barlow 'Untitled Gig' (2014) Fabric, paper, cord. |
The opening exhibition was always in danger of being over
shadowed by the gallery itself, however an excellent decision to choose
sculptor Phylidda Barlow, whose work could easily compete for attention, made a
grand opening impression. Her bold/colourful, mixed media (often suspended)
installed sculptures do a fantastic job at both invading, if not dominating the
space as they do at drawing your attention to the gallery’s architecture and
potential. In some instances they
actually block and act like obstacles that have to be navigated either through
or around the edges of the room. This is intentional by the artist whose work is,
I think, also incredibly playful being both abstract and looking-like objects
such as chairs, megaphones, machinery and pompoms. Barlow makes use of strips
of coloured fabric, rope, polystyrene, modroc, cardboard and other inexpensive
or everyday materials which she manipulates on a large scale in response to the
space (think Arte Povera). For me, Barlow’s work is interesting in that it tricks
you into being unsure how to determine the weight or density of her work, of
which I’ve also seen some of in the Venice Biennale; and appears weighty/heavy in
its mass (due to its often large scale) but light at the same time (due to the
airy materials she uses). They are quite rhythmical and dynamic in their
compositions as well reminding me of paintings by Vorticists, like Wyndham Lewis
and looking at them I feel tempted to take a photo so as to flatten them into
these remarkable 2-D compositions so I can be aware of the many different works
created by viewing it from different angles. Undoubtedly in my mind, it was a
bold opening first exhibition that will have created an impact without being
too controversial, conceptual or particularly challenging. Perhaps a safe bet,
but then it would do no good in alienating people on the opening of its first
exhibition.
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| Phyllida Barlow 'Untitled: Grinder' (2014) Plywood, paint. |
Good things do come to those who wait as Hauser and Wirth
Somerset certainly proves. For me personally I find it all a bit similar to the
Damien Hirst affect in Ilfracombe. Hauser and Wirth, like Hirst, has the will,
the professional business knowledge and money that are needed to fund what are ambitious
and impressive galleries, fill them with international art and bring them to
these remote rural areas of the South West. However, in order to thrive they
must be supported by the public and continue to work with local organisations
and local artists; many whom have lived and worked in these areas sustaining
the arts for a long time and have equally long had the ambition, the knowledge
and desire to do similar things but have struggled to develop under lack of funding
or been eradicated completely due to the 2010 Arts Cuts. It is vital that they
work together. Hauser and Wirth Somerset
is a great asset and more importantly than the place itself is the impact it will have on the surrounding area, what it may breed and inspire...only time will tell.
Phyllida Barlow's 'Gig' is on at Hauser and Wirth Somerset until 2nd November 2014.
For more details please visit: www.hauserandwirthsomerset.com