Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin 'Walking with Tears' is a collection of mono print drawings and prints from the past sixteen years, they are undoubtedly a series of works with varying subject matter from birds and squirrels, to explicit nudity. However, whilst the range is broad they remain still easily identifiable as Emins works through the quality of the broken line. Emin is one of the herons of contemporary British Art and whilst controversial to say the least, contemporary art would be nothing, if not a boundary pusher. As a autobiographical artist, Emins is renowned, respected and also hugely scrutinized from the often brutal honesty she uses in documenting the affairs of her life. Whilst the likes of Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 and My Bed are probably the works most commonly associated with Emin, this particular exhibition is a fantastic reminder of the skill of Emins. The exhibition gains acknowledgement for her practical craftsmanship, not only her ability to deal with a contemporary subject. Truth is that the skill is always present, it can however sometimes be lost in the phase of controversy. Be it through needlework and sculpture, video and installation or in this case print and drawing, Emins is very good at what she does. Presented in the rather random setting of the Sir Hugh Casson Room, daily from 4pm until 6pm at the Royal Academy of Arts, 'Waling with Tears'.

Text Katriona Flynn

Say it with flowers, Mr Hodges does.....

and so to Camden, where American artist Jim Hodges has a lot to say and a lot of things to say it with. Hordes creates artifacts and then associates the feelings with these items. For example, flowers with which we associate life and love and all of that blossoming blossoms. However, Hodges lets the viewer create this imagery and then wistfully contradicts the initial feeling with a less delightful undertone. It's like taking and linking love with loss and desire with despair. In many ways, even the way the space is filled and cluttered, is again a sort of unsettling notion. Whether it is enough, (as it should be) too much, and a little smothering, is always lurking among, but then that is the essence. Whether making flower diaries from paper napkins or jewelry cobwebs. Pieces such as 'A kind of Forever' and 'A Line to You' demonstrate well what hordes is trying to spell out, until September at the Camden Arts Centre. Go have a look!

Text Katriona Flynn

THE MAN BEHIND THE SCULPTURE

The man behind the sculpture, Anthony Gormley is again in residence at The White Cube Gallery, London. His exhibition 'Test Sites' consists of a series of nine (Title to be confirmed) cast iron sculptures and a prodigious installation 'Breathing Room ///'.

It is the 15 interconnecting photio-luminscent 'space frames' which invites the viewer to explore. In the blackhued room of the lower ground floor the lucid structural is interrefered with only by the darker shadows of the audience moving throughout the structure. It is alluring to say the least, disturbed only by the unsettling intense bursts of light that interrupt the complete darkness. But this is part of the game. 'Breathing Room ///' is all about the principles of light and time and Gormleys hope is to invite te audience to interact with the structure and then unexpectedly jolt their experience of quiet meditation to acute inquiry.

The White Cube plays host to 'Test Sites' like a long lost friend, whilst the ground floors iron cast sculptures are nice demonstrations of how, 'time acts on Objects and how objects act on us', downstairs was always going to be the crowd pleaser and that in all its luminosity it is.

Anthony Gormleys TEST SITES runs until the 10th of July 2010, at the White Cube, Masons Yard, LondonWhite Cube is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 6pm.