Many thanks to Colin for this review of local artist Teresa Grimaldi’s exhibition at Quay Arts. Do try and get along if you can before it finishes on 20th July. Ed
Teresa Grimaldi has returned to her native Isle of Wight, to present an inspiring body of work that appeals to all ages. This is because ‘The Vacated Works’ is about ‘everyday things’ that matter and form a collective experience.
Grimaldi captures a moment in time and exhibits those items on our behalf. This multi-faceted artist throws us straight into the relationships between the archive, to puppet: collector: and childhood memory.
In ‘Kiosk Memories’, the Ice Cream store ‘La Banane’ – set up by Teresa and her sister Catherine in the 1980’s as an extension to their father’s cafe – is remembered. Hundreds of Ice lolly sticks are found on the floor offering us their corney jokes, encouraging us to pick them up and remember the pleasure of seaside ice.
Holiday items for sale hung from a pin board represent all sorts of sun-kissed memorabilia to tempt visitors to part with their holiday spending money. La Banane was re-created for one day only in May and the subsequent video is shown as part of the exhibition, encouraging oral history reminiscence from passers-by. Don’t forget to listen to those summertime hits that blared out from the kiosk through the headphones provided.
Grimaldi’s own collecting obsession is beautifully manifested with the installation ‘Ticketitus’ that captures one, Captain Hockney. The Captain’s collectables shop in Ventnor, was part of the local make-up, until it was closed for redevelopment.
A video interview with the Captain takes us through his retail philosophy, but the stars of the show are his handwritten labels that are freefalling and personal: “Reduced, Reduced, Reduced: The ‘dozers are coming” they cry out as if in a scene from Alice in Wonderland. Grimaldi has saved many of these tags, that like a honey trap, entice the avid collector to delve deep into boxes of books, postcards and the like.
Through ‘Vacated Gloves’ Grimaldi returns to her passion for puppeteering. Her quintessentially English approach to humour, nostalgia, and childhood through use of the puppet expresses notions of ‘otherworldlyness’ or the ‘inbetween space’.
We are invited to tiptoe across discarded glove puppets all constructed from black moulds, to a black, puppet show theatre, where we can become a puppeteer ourselves and bring colour into the scene of marionette carnage through our own puppet show.
In VacatedWorks Teresa Grimaldi takes us back to the summers of our childhood and adolescence. In bombarding the senses through her subtle and honest techniques she takes us back to summers where the beach and all its related culture held us under its spell and while we stand and reminisce, the kids will enjoy exploring and creating their own memories.
This exhibition deserves a wider audience on the mainland, but in the meantime – hop on the ferry and enjoy.
Do check Teresa Grimaldi‘s Website for more.
Review images above: Colin Phillimore
Gallery images below: Teresa Grimaldi
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