JMU Final Year Degree Show

2a Myrtle Street (Mon–Sun, 10am–4pm)
Until June 17th 2007

Reviewed by Helen Grey

I often enter a final year degree show with a certain degree of trepidation. Artists have a reputation for being a bit, well…arty, and the thought of viewing over three floors of work that has been produced by students who have been able to indulge their arty side for three years, sometimes makes my heart sink. But what I found within the floors of 2a Myrtle Street was intelligent, thought provoking and relevant. Of course within an exhibition of this size there will work which is less strong but over all the collection is inspiring.

Daniel Garrett has created two technically amazing paintings (see above) that reflect modern society’s need for consumerism. They strip away the gloss of advertising to reveal the capitalist greed that often lies underneath. Daniel says that ‘the need for products and goods have grown, easy to come by income and new ways of attracting new punters has shown that people now consume more than ever before. This trend of consumerism has affected everything in our lives, down to the economical impact it has on others around the world.’

While David found his inspiration from looking at modern society, Sue Clayton has produced a more personal exhibition. She has created two large portraits of her two sons using words and phases to build up the likeness. From a distance they look like pencil sketches but on closer inspection the images are made up from indistinguishable words. She used this process not only to create a likeness but also to explore the relationship between mother and child.

The subject of memory is explored within the work of Suzie Walsh. Her partly faded and blackened photos are a reminder of how fragile memory and the past can be, and how we often remember things very differently from the reality.

There is not space here – nor do I have the words – to describe this show. The artists displayed in this gallery are the future of not only art in the North West, but in the country. And if this show is anything to go by the future is looking very bright indeed.

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