Spring Exhibitions launched at Touchstones Rochdale

Claire Barclay at the launch

Two new shows have been launched at Touchstones showcasing work of Rana Begum and Claire Barclay.

Claire Barclay‘s work is typically large in scale and interventionist in ambition, taking the form of installations made in situ and in response to the space in which they are shown. For this exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale in association with Stephen Friedman Gallery, she has made an extensive new body of work that includes printmaking and sculptures, taking inspiration from but not directly reflecting the museum’s collection. Before the exhibition opens, Barclay will transform the gallery space into her own studio as she assembles the smaller crafted objects she has created into larger sculptural pieces.

In 2012 Touchstones acquired Barclay’s sculpture Perching, presented by the Contemporary Art Society with support from The Art Fund and this provided a starting point for this exhibition and will be shown alongside the new work she has produced. Her ensembles of crafted objects made from metal, fabric and ceramics, explore the making of things, questioning and experiencing how these items are made. Though craft-based and hands-on, Barclay’s work is primarily conceptual – the objects are carriers of ideas rather than idealisations of form, and the fact of their making, like the turning of wheel and lathe, is only one of the ideas they carry.

Born in 1968, Barclay is a major figure within the generation of Scottish artists who came out of the Glasgow School of Art in the 1990s and helped establish the city as a serious centre of contemporary art. Barclay was also one of three artists to represent Scotland for its first showing at the Venice Biennale in 2003.

Speaking at the launch, Claire said: “To some extent the work for this show has been triggered by thinking about the industrial heritage of the Rochdale Borough. I am delighted to be able to showcase my work here at the Rochdale Art Gallery and thank you to the Gallery team for making me feel so welcome.”

Elsewhere, this is the internationally renowned artist, Rana Begum’s first solo show in a public gallery in the UK. Drawing inspiration from Islamic art and architecture, these works emerged from studies in paper and delicately emulate the weightlessness of the original material. Constructed through a series of folds, the resulting work in painted mild steel and mirror-finish stainless steel is a playful balance between form, colour and light. This infinite composition shifts with the viewer’s every move while reflected colour softens or intensifies depending on perspective.

Speaking about her work, Rana adds: “My work romanticises moments of alignment, fragmentation of forms and re-contextualises urban structure. I have always been fascinated by architecture, how it opens up spaces that can be transformed by light. That’s where the 3D element of a lot of my work comes from. Abstract art allows me to look at universal themes such as light and space in a way that isn’t restricting.”