Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust // Matthew Barney: Redoubt – Hayward Gallery, London

The Hayward reopens with not one, but two exhibitions. Works by Matthew Barney and Igshaan Adams are contrasting in inspiration, execution and aesthetics. In my opinion the overall impact is a little unbalanced, but not in the direction you might think.

Two For The Price Of One

After quite a sizeable gap, I was back at the Hayward Gallery recently on London’s South Bank, to see not one but two exhibitions. The last time I was here, I saw Among the Trees, a thematic exhibition on – you guessed it – trees, which took over the whole gallery space. This time I saw two monographic exhibitions. Firstly there is Redoubt by American artist Matthew Barney. And secondly Kicking Dust by South African Igshaan Adams.

I think in this instance there are more differences than similarities. I mean sure, solo shows by male artists, with some common themes eg. of resistance. But I would say it ends there. Barney is the bigger name of the two (I, however, was not familiar with his work), but my preference was for Adams. I found it more human, vs. Barney’s cerebral approach. And I have never been into conceptual work at the expense of aesthetics, which I feel informed my response to the two exhibitions as well.

In any case, let’s get on and have a look at each of the exhibitions so you can make up your own minds.

Matthew Barney: Redoubt

One of the challenges I had while visiting this exhibition, and perhaps the reason I didn’t relate to it, was just how much there is going on. Redoubt is a body of work revolving around a two hour film (which you can watch in the Hayward or at home via a Mubi trial that comes with your ticket). There are also copper engravings and large-scale sculptures. As you read the texts or exhibition booklet, you understand how many layers are involved. Redoubt references 1990s conflicts in Idaho over the reintroduction of wolves, between ecologists and hunters. It also references the myth of Diana and Acteon. To really take it all in, you need to know about the American West, contemporary survivalists, metallurgical practices, the dance style known as ‘contact improvisation’, and the list goes on.

No doubt this is all very interesting. But for me, it didn’t make for the best gallery experience. The copper engravings are interesting to look at, but there are a lot of them. The large sculptures are likewise interesting in their construction, but I wasn’t enamoured of all the gun and hunting references. And I don’t tend to like video works so stayed for as long as my attention span held, but that wasn’t for too long. Finally perhaps a niggling point, but you can see in a couple of images that the preference was to use lines on the floor instead of barriers to keep visitors away from works. It’s pretty confusing at times and keeps the staff busy shooing people away from close-up investigations.

So really I think my response to this exhibition was as much about me as about Matthew Barney. If I were more steeped in all the background references I might have enjoyed it more. Or if I had the time/inclination to watch the full film, that might have helped to join the dots. As it stands, I might recommend it if you’re in the neighbourhood, but it’s not one of my top picks for London exhibitions.

Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust

This is by far the smaller of the two Hayward exhibitions. And Igshaan Adams the less established artist. However, this is the one I enjoyed more. Adams is a South African artist who grew up between traditions – his Muslim faith and the Christian grandparents who raised him. His work reflects these influences, and also other South African and family heritage, like the Rieldans. The Rieldans (a word of Afrikaans and Scottish etymology) is a traditional dance among the San, Nama and Khoi people. Energetic footwork means clouds of dust are kicked up, which is the image that Adams has used here. Look back at the pictures above. Can you see it now?

Kicking Dust takes as a theme the traces we leave, often unintentionally. Woven textiles and delicate wire ‘dust clouds’ are carefully laid out in a small-ish gallery space. As visitors there are paths laid out for us – the paths recall ‘desire lines‘, or the paths worn down outside of ‘official’ walkways by many feet over many years. Adams is particularly interested in the desire lines in transitionary spaces between South African communities traditionally pitted against each other in the Apartheid era. It shows us that, whatever the official narrative, people form connections. Likewise the textile works recall tiled floors, but floors with the marks of feet and familiar paths, like a comfortable kitchen.

And I think for me this was a key difference. Compared to the rather more clinical treatment and materials in Redoubt, Kicking Dust feels warm and human. Again there are multiple layers behind the works like Sufism, Islamic design, understanding the concept of ‘desire lines’. But these feel more accessible, or at least they did to me. I’m excited to have a new ‘artist to watch’ on my mental list.

Matthew Barney: Redoubt – 2.5/5
Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust – 4/5

Both exhibitions on until 25 July 2021

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