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Associated events
BLUE POWER by Karen Mc Lean Opening
Ort Gallery 18 January 2018
6:00 pm
Karen Mc Lean Artist Talk
Ort Gallery21 February 2018
6:00 pm
Ort Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Birmingham based Trinidadian artist Karen Mc Lean. Mc Lean’s work is concerned with the relentless impact of colonialism and post-colonialism – particularly in the Caribbean. Her primary area of investigation has been the vernacular architecture and how that form relates to modern social and economical displacement, land rites, and home ownership.
For this exhibition, Mc Lean has created new work that continues to look at this economic displacement and the ways in which religion, mythology and superstition are used for protection. BLUE POWER explores the historical forces that contributed to the development of these hybrid religious/superstitious practices that can be observed throughout the Caribbean. They seek to protect but invariably fail to achieve any sustainable change or advantage.
Mc Lean presents a compelling installation that expresses the precarious nature of this existence and struggle for survival. Focusing on materials common to the experience, she explores her personal memories and exposes the political inadequacies and gaps that enable distorted cultures to develop resulting in behaviours that invariably become futile and tragic.
This exhibition is curated by Josephine Reichert.
This exhibition is made possible with strategic investment by the Arts Council England.
BLUE POWER is on show at Ort Gallery from 18 January to 3 March 2018, Tuesday to Saturday 12-5pm
