Jerwood Contemporary Makers

This exhibition is the third and final instalment in a series whose focus brings into prominence a somewhat overlooked area of visual art; the applied arts. It is definitively asserted from the outset that this show is not about function; we are asked to appreciate these objects for their “inherent value” rather than their purpose.

The newspaper catalogue which accompanies the show opens with an essay beautifully written by Jeanette Winterson, in which she explores the ultimate satisfaction to be found in the art of making. ‘The verb is the clue. We make love, we make babies, we make dinner, we make sense...’ The clue is definitely in the verb; but it is this verb, and the insistence upon it, which may cause viewing difficulties. The exhibitors, curators and selectors of these works seem to know exactly where their pieces fit into the art world. For the viewer, however, it is not as simple. The delineation between painting and sculpture, or art and design are intelligible, but with the addition of ‘making’ it becomes a little more complex.

Immediately upon arrival in the space, the 29 selected pieces beguile and perplex. Sleek, clean and arranged with careful consideration, the exhibition is exceptionally contemporary. Lucy Potter’s tiny gold heart-shaped pin is almost lost on its own vast plinth, but its beauty gradually grows - especially when one learns that it has been cast from a small flaw found in one of the 2711 concrete blocks in Berlin’s Jewish memorial.

Some objects, such as Carl Clerkin’s ‘Desperate Measures’ and Julie Cook’s ‘Bilateral Body Bumpers’, allude directly to more functional devices, while Laura Ellen Bacon presents ‘Surface form’ which appears to be nothing other than what it claims to be: a winding willow form expertly weaved together. Ultimately one must not get lost in terminology here or be blinded by function (or rather absence thereof). The Jerwood Contemporary Makers do just what they profess: they make, and what they make is beautiful.