Blood
'n' Feathers
Until April 15; Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
Im well-warned, at the opening night of Blood n
Feathers new exhibition, to expect some serious tongue in cheek
behaviour. Lucy Stein and Jo Robertson have never made a secret of
their irreverent attitudes, and just last year they sprung a not-quite-serious
performance on the assembled audience of a serious symposium.
Imagine my surprise when Jo sits down in front of Lucys pretty
mountainscape, and with an acoustic guitar and a sweet voice, she
offers up three wistful songs of her own making. Whats more,
theyre far closer to country music than to the raucous aggression
of the artists hero, rock band wild child Courtney Love.
Robertson and Stein named themselves Blood n Feathers
from a line sung by Courtney Love. Its Loves kinderwhore
aesthetic, accessorising fairy princess dresses with chainsaws, that
offers the biggest clue to the artists post-punk approach. Look
closer at Robertsons candy-mountain backdrop, and you might
recognise a mineral water logo surmounted by a direct reference to
a famously explicit 19th century painting of a womans vagina.
Though the two artists met at Glasgow School of Art, and have collaborated
since then, they are currently separated between London and Amsterdam.
Nevertheless, theyve made it to the shortlist of this years
Becks Futures, which means contributing to three simultaneous
shows in Glasgow, London and Bristol. Add that to this Collective
show, and an upcoming show at Londons Jerwood Space, and youve
got two very busy artists.
As well as a talent for singing, Blood n Feathers cant
quite keep their love of painting in post-modern check. Angst-ridden
German Expressionism meets angry 1980s pop in their gestural paintings
and their cut up collages. Steins Some Girls Are Bigger Than
Others is a bewitching ink-tentacled prison trapping doe-eyed females.
Night Eyes drags a Dior make-up model into the post-apocalyptic horror
of a slimy, hairy, cigarette butted wasteland.
Post-punk or not, there are some seriously lyrical passages of paint
here, but Stein and Robertson never go too far without cutting back
to the safety of post-modern irony. Get too close to Robertsons
bourgeois nightmare, Rescue Remedy, and youll spot a note saying
Oh no I farted!. I have a feeling that Blood n
Feathers might be a little bit tongue in cheek about being tongue
in cheek. Maybe, after all, its a double negative.
Catrìona
Black, Sunday Herald 26.03.06