Caroline McCarthy
Caroline McCarthy, Review of solo show at Galerie Gisela Clement by Thomas Kliemann, General Anzeiger Bonn, 2019
Two dead flies are on the list of exhibits in the current exhibition at gallery Gisela Clement. They are in the corner of one of the upper showrooms. Caroline McCarthy has deposited them there - at the end of a sweeping, colourful line that has two loops behind it. We imagine that this line is, as in a comic strip, the last flight trail of the flies; the demise of two flying objects, which fell into a spin and crashed to death.
The artwork seduces the viewer into making such interpretations. “Where I end, you Begin” is how the artist titles her installation, meaning just that. Strictly speaking, the work is a line of assembled colourful straws that are sent along the wall on a journey. A journey that moves up and down, and proceeds forward, here smoothly and there more angularly, sometimes submitting to the architecture, sometimes ignoring it demonstratively.
This line works as a caesura in space, but can materialize at the same time: it runs through a flowerpot, from which then green-yellow stalks "grow". At some point, the line leaves the protective wall, protruding sharply into the room, and becomes a barrier. An emergency situation: McCarthy is referencing new colours here as the straws are alternately yellow and black and reminiscent of barrier tape. A few meters further on then the "accident" with the flies. The dramaturgy is perfect.
Fine irony meets a great sense of space and storytelling. The current exhibition is the first appearance in Bonn of the Dublin born, London-based artist. Hopefully not the last.