ART:
NICK RELPH.
Brand-building (in art as in fashion) clearly seems to preoccupy this artist, emerging on his own at the age of 31. The show’s largest component was a freestanding booth with walls painted monochrome red, green and blue to recall the kitschy high-end caravans in the Comme des Garçons London flagship-cum-shrine, Dover Street Market. Inside played the video Thre Stryppis Quhite Upon ane Blak Field, a composite of blue, green and red projections, offering superimposed documentaries about Kelly, Kawakubo and the history of tartan. The soundtracks clash and compete in occidental/oriental registers. The tricolor projection mimics the layering technique often used to print color photographs, but without the sharpness and clarity favored by publishers. Nevertheless, we manage to glean from the simultaneous films that each “product” (from clan-based tartan to Kelly exhibition to Kawakubo accessory) is created by a large team under the auspices of an auteur—a method not unlike artistic practice in earlier times. Since Relph himself shares this approach, it will be exciting to see how his practice develops.
http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/nick-relph/
