Deliverance

Deliverance

Rosalind Davis | Noam Enbar | Leanna Moran

25^th June – 30^th July,

CoExist Galleries, The Old Water Works, North Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS0 9XR

The exhibition title Deliverance inevitably filled me with certain expectations, connotations of salvation, a setting free or rescue from evil possession. I wondered who would be freed and from what?

On first encounter I found a sense of incongruity within the exhibition but somehow the individual pieces from the three artists resided comfortably and without jarring. This could be a result of the relatively few pieces on show. In addition there is a lot of white space both around and within many of the works on display. This in contrast however to the individual works of Rosalind Davis where every millimetre of each canvas is covered in fabric, brushstrokes and stitching detail.

For me the thread that draws the works together is an element of naivety; of Enbar’s stop motion cartoon-like animations; the simplistic drawings and subject matter of Moran and Davis’ unrefined line and perspective. Nevertheless, all of the works apparently masking something deeper, something darker despite the lightness of Moran’s touch, Davis’ floral fabrics and Enbar’s humourous overtones.

Noam Enbar’s short, looped video works are displayed on screens as if they are canvases of varying sizes. All but one piece, Offerings, which was singled out to be viewed in a small, darkened chamber within the Old Water Works.

I had the unusual experience of watching the piece alongside a mother and very young child, neither of whom I had met before, which undoubtedly affected my response. The unscheduled mother-to-child commentary gave it a humourous quality, ‘toilet humour’ almost, that is not necessarily confined to the province of the young. A passing similarity was drawn to Martin Creed’s Work No. 600 (2006). Flaccid ‘dancing’, being a key component of the piece, the decapitation and sadomasochistic actions of the animated characters was light-heartedly brushed aside for the benefit of the infant present. Thus, all the potential darkness of the piece evaporated for me as I almost viewed it through the eyes of the young child.

Later the same film was the subject of a screening in a larger dedicated space where the artist spoke to the exclusively adult audience at some length about the two-minute video animation. He spoke of dreams, alchemy and of folk music (this piece had a soundtrack composed and performed by Enbar himself). He also talked of ‘carnival’ and of ‘performer’ and ‘audience’ and I became acutely aware of my role as audience of the mediated spectacle.

Leanna Moran is fresh from her Fine Art degree and rose to the occasion admirably. Moran’s work is said to be evocative of her childhood, ironically described as exploring “the relationship between mother and daughter”.

The exhibition is well worth a visit and it is refreshing to see emerging talent showcased alongside established artist’s work. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend taking a small child but it can be, as I discovered, quite a freeing experience.