ZK Exhibition

Bluecoat Arts Centre, School Lane, L1
On until 4th September

Reviewed by Colin Serjent

As part of the latest cultural link-up between the twin cities of Liverpool and Cologne, The Bluecoat Arts Centre are staging a group show of seven German artists.

ZK follows on from a previous exhibition at the gallery in 2000, which was also staged by artists from Cologne.

The main focus of ZK is on drawing, presenting a broad range of work by seven artists.

"The artists use drawing not as a preparatory exercise for other works of art," said a Bluecoat spokesperson,"but as a medium in its own right - direct, sensitive and powerful. Drawings finds a fresh impetus here through an engaging diversity of graphic approaches, materials and subject matter."

One of the most interesting pieces of the exhibition is the special site-specific drawing in the alcove space of gallery 2 by Heike Weber. Using materials such as pins and thread, she produces line drawings in space. She also exhibits works from her series of ink drawings of firework displays.

The Challenger space shuttle disaster is portrayed by Katja Davar by her use of reproduced images of the vapour trails and clouds that resulted from the explosion.

Drawings within drawings are produced byTrixi Groiss in her selection of six works from her series, One Hundred Naked Men, in which, bizzarely, not all of the subject matters are either naked or men!

Svenja Kreh is inspired, in her images, by quoatations from popular cultural media, such as newspapers, comic strips, science-fiction films and graffiti.

The other German artists taking part in ZK are Silke Schatz, Vincent Tavenne and Joseph Zehrer.