Exhibition Review: York St. John Art and Design Graduate Show 2007

The show marks the culmination of three years worth of creative energies from the graduating students, and does not fail to impress. Housed in two separate areas of the campus, you enter the exhibition through a converted chapel and are immediately confronted with the dazzling array of hanging fabrics that form the core of the textile display. Whilst it would have been nice to see a few more finished garments/items, they nonetheless form an impressive entrance to the exhibition, creating high expectations for the rest of the show that, fortunately, is not found to be lacking.

The textile display is flanked on either side by two rooms housing the design exhibition. If you’ve been hunting for that elusive bespoke piece to help brighten up your dingy student property, then look no further. What meets you is a plethora of novel, achingly modern furniture and lighting designs (amongst others) guaranteed to beat anything you’ll pick up at Ikea.

It is the fine art exhibition, however, that offers the real jewel in the creative crown. Held in a self-contained building across campus (thus allowing the chance to take a legitimised snoop around the York St. John grounds) the collection consists of two floors of work concerned with how art participates in, comments upon and transforms contemporary culture. Ranging from traditional drawing with a modern twist to video and sound installation, the breadth of the work on show is nothing short of overwhelming, with something sure to appeal to the vast majority of tastes.

The design exhibition contains a plethora of novel, achingly modern furniture and lighting designs guaranteed to beat anything you’ll pick up at Ikea.

My personal favourites included ‘World Peace’ by Malin Bergstrom. Displayed on the floor, it consists of misshapen toy guns, warped and twisted out of shape by fire and used to build up a map of the world. Occasionally punctuated with other toys such as a charred and distorted Barbie doll, the piece forms a poignant commentary on loss of innocence and the prominence of gun culture in modern society. Similarly concerned with childhood, Alison Gardner's work is a delightful piece on the intangible nature of childhood memory. Indebted to the work of Marcel Broodthaers, it consists of compartmentalised plaster casts of small toys, the imprints of which are embedded into the drawers of numerous wooden boxes. Highlights also include Annetta Wormold’s eerie video installation based on images and sounds captured from the now disused Terry’s factory, and Laura Steele’s sensitive piece dealing with the issues and stigma surrounding lesbian sex.

So, If you’re capable of compromising your University of York fidelity for an hour or so, the exhibition runs until Friday 15th June (10am-4pm). Alternatively, view the online galleries here. I guarantee you will be well compensated for your sacrifice.