Culture writer Ellen Campbell reviews I Find Myself, praising the exhibition’s presentation of Barbara Steveni’s influential role as an artist and social practitioner
Modern Art Oxford presents the astonishing new exhibition I Find Myself, the first retrospective exhibition of pioneering and influential artist-activist Barbara Steveni (1928-2020). The showcase represents Steveni’s influential work as an artist, organiser, negotiator and pioneer of social practice. It combines examples of her conversational and collaborative practice, assemblage pieces and work with the Artist Placement Group (APG). Alongside Steveni’s work, we see new commissions from Laure Prouvost and Eloise Hawser.
Steveni’s I Find Myself is organised into five rooms, arranged thematically to bring together a broad body of her work. The first room of I Find Myself consists of gathered artwork and materials, that explore the trajectory of Steveni’s life. For instance, hanging on the wall is a pair of Steveni’s boilersuits,
a signature style of hers. In the centre of the room, a display case exhibiting personal items, such as invitation cards, dried flowers, and handwritten family recipes. Additionally, there is a structural piece by her husband, John Latham, titled ‘Barbara as Soft Skoob’ (1962), made of spray-painted canvas with attached books, and designed for Steveni to wear at the opening of his 1962 exhibition Mes Bibliothèques. Most notably, there is a slideshow of images of a demolition site, which refer to the moment in which Steveni resolved to form the APG. This was a movement which positioned artists within industrial corporations and government departments, to expand the reach of art into society.
The showcase represents Steveni’s pivotal role as an artist initiator, energetic organiser, negotiator and pioneer
The second room is an immersive display by Laure Prouvost, titled ‘Dancing thought leftovers with Barbara’. The installation features numerous and disparate found objects, collected by Steveni over the last 30 years of her life, suspended from the ceiling. Projected across the walls of the gallery is video work made by Prouvost, in which she convenes and interacts with these fragments from Steveni’s life. The objects hanging from the ceiling are full of intrigue and potential, for instance, oddly shaped pieces of metal, unique microscopes, dainty teacups and even a wishbone.
The third room centres around an important aspect of APG work, ‘The Sculpture’ (1971), which is a site for live conversation. ‘The Sculpture’ is a seated area which encourages conversation, particularly from artists, politicians and government officials, to introduce artist thinking into society. This ongoing project will be activated by live conversations at various moments throughout the exhibition, with programming produced in collaboration with contemporary organisations inspired by the APG, including Policy Lab.
In 1989, APG was re-structured and re-named Organisation & Imagination (O&I). The fourth room exhibits O&I’s first and most expansive project, Southwark Education Research Project (SERP). The project engaged over 1,500 children and teachers by placing artists in 15 schools across the London borough of Southwark and encouraged critical questioning of the education process and National Curriculum. This room displays photographs of SERP participating artists, documents outlining O&I activity and methodology, a SEPR workshop outline, as well as video footage.
the objects hanging from the ceiling are full of intrigue and potential
The fifth and final room of I Find Myself, draws on elements Steveni’s previous significant work I Am An Archive (2002-2015). Taking inspiration from Steveni’s approach to collecting as a critical archival practice, Eloise Hawser has developed a new structural installation based on research into Steveni’s vast collection of newspapers. The structure is made of Steveni’s newspaper clippings, which includes images, headlines and articles that resonated with Steveni, bound together on a hanging metal installation that dominates the room. Also in the room, Steveni’s famous piece titled ‘Banner’ (1993), constructed of unstretched fabric with attached copies of APG’s 1973 Civil Service Memorandum in both Russian and English. The bold red writing across the banner reads ‘INGREDIENTS’, ‘RECIPE’, ‘METHOD’ and ‘PREPARATIONS’, with the intention of Steveni to return ten years later to see if anything had been ‘cooked’ as a result of the treaty.
Steveni’s I Find Myself invites us to embark on an intimate and transformative journey. We are reminded of the importance of art in social practices, and how artists must be placed, as well as valued, in the context of industrial and governmental processes. Steveni’s surrealist practice encourages conversation within a social context and engages with the performative art of everyday work.
I Find Myself is running from 1 March – 8 June at Modern Art Oxford.
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