ANDREW KERR

Set design formed a key part of the output of many artists in the 20th century, with the interplay betweenthe fine arts and performing arts producing experimental results both on the canvas and stage. In thelead-up to the exhibition, Kerr chanced upon theatre commissions by André Derain (1880–1954),Balthus (1908–2001) and Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966), delighting in the teasing of perspective andconfident artifice found in their designs. The notion of mise-en-scène as well as the constraints offraming are shared by staging and painting, as well as the central role of play.

In the exhibition there is the hint that painting, too, happens ‘live’ and has its own audience to address.Further allusions to performance appear: the inverted arch which occupies the doors down one sideof the gallery, allowing only a sliver of light through under its polygonal base, recalls the velvet drapesof a theatre curtain; or perhaps it is a simplified backdrop, inspired by the decorative flourishes thatadorn Glasgow’s sandstone buildings. (This piece, and the other alteration to the gallery, were madewith the help of Louis Brown.) Another sculpture, atop an embellished plinth, is a vehicle of some kindand entertains the possibility of either prop or toy, invoking childhood play. In their creations, childrenand artists share common cause; both in some sense orchestrate alternative, accentuated visions oftheir world and relationships.

The overall effect of the exhibition is enigmatic and the connections between the various elementsremain provisional, grounded in Kerr tentatively following his instincts and interests – looking, noticing,recording, revising.

Andrew Kerr would like to thank Katie O’Brien and Louis Brown.

Courtesy The Modern Institute.