Chris Barr

The Rudiments of Ornamental Composition

19th March – 30th April 2005

There is often a reaction against the term decorative in regards to the work of art. This is particularly so in the modern and contemporary tradition where the language of radicalism and the avant-garde does not sit well with the avowed bourgeois, decadent connotations of the term ‘decorative’. However, as soon as we take a work to a site, exhibiting being exactly this, we cannot deny that this factor comes into play.

“...the moment one asks, ‘What do I do with this canvas? What does it become in a space?’ One quickly realizes that it is impossible to escape the decorative effect of any object hung on the wall or any object placed on the floor.” Daniel Buren in Les Ecrits (1965-1990),p.88

The fundamental consideration that underpins this exhibition is an interest in the decorative and an architectural citing of this impulse. This exhibition cites the decorative nature of works as something that can be investigated and utilised as a strategy. What baggage attaches to decorative motifs? What is it to change a functioning form into an art form? Where do the lines between art, design and ornament lie? What is the relationship between a work and its arrangement or placement?

In all of these artists work there exists an ambivalent relationship to the strategy of appropriation, a once radical affront to taste, which has now become a convention in its own right with its own attendant aesthetics. Whether it is an appropriation of a motif, object or material, all the works acknowledge their place within the world as objects and signs.

Each artist will address the context differently, sometimes showing pre-existing work and sometimes, making new work in-situ, always adjusting the pieces to the space of the exhibition. All of the artists have been presented with the building as a blank surface to work with, to utilize as they see fit within their own practices, engaging with the idea of inaugurating a space by placing works into it. This exhibition highlights a generation of artists interested in the possibilities of a decorative and attractive form of art practice.


Chris Barr, Andrew Bracey, Ruth Claxton, Marie-Anne McQuay, Neal Rock

Click here for images of the show

Andrew Bracey

Neal Rock

Marie-Anne McQuay

Ruth Claxton