About
Sorcha Dallas is pleased to announce the second show in the gallery by the Glasgow based artist Sophie Macpherson. This exhibition brings together a series of new objects, drawings and films, which seek to investigate the relationship between movement and objects. Macpherson plays on the inherent material qualities of forms, which she explores to create her own unique language. Language is key in acquiring knowledge which in turn creates hierarchies, hierarchies create structures and codes which create behaviour, behaviour has a language which informs style- which all can be broken down and used to form new languages from which fresh interpretations can be made.
In Gallery No.5 there are a series of garments, drawings and a structure on which a monitor displays a short video, âWild-Boys', using footage filmed over the last year from locations as diverse as Glasgow, New York and Antwerp. The drawings contain a series of slogans executed in bold primary coloured pencil. These works juxtapose words to create hybrid narratives promoting the idea of collectives or actions, being drawn from both a personal mythology and from historical facts. The casually displayed garments sit somewhere between sculptural objects and DIY clothing. Macpherson exploits the aspirational quality of clothing, the use of branding as signifiers for sub-cultural groups, to create garments which imply a social status or a new cultural group, potentially the coded uniform made manifest from one of her pencil drawings.
In Gallery No.9 there is a new 16mm film âA Series of Movements'. This film seeks to explore the relationship between everyday behaviour and abstract action. Macpherson utilizes her sculptural works, and drawings thus recontextualising them in time and space, with truncated figures interacting within these âsets' to animate them. These often repeated actions become ritualistic and theatrical, with the activity developing both within and outside of the camera frame.
With thanks to Lucy Skaer, Rob Kennedy, Clare Stephenson, The Hope Scott Trust, Glasgow Visual Arts Grants Scheme and all who have assisted in the making of the films.
Born in Aylesbury in 1972, Macpherson graduated in 1996 with a BA in Fine Art from Glasgow School of Art. Macpherson served as a committee member at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow from 1998 to 2000. Recent exhibitions include: âThe Glass Bead Game' (Vilma Gold Project Space, Berlin); âIf Not Now' (Broadway 1602, New York); âLa Femme du Nulle Part' (Doggerfisher, Edinburgh); âWorking Things Out' (Spike Island, Bristol); âRemake/Re-Model' (Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow); a two-person show at Laura Bartlett, London, and âOpen Field' (CCA, Glasgow). Macpherson was awarded the Scottish Arts Council / Location One New York Residency, which she completed in June 2009. She also audited classes at the Calfornia Institute of Arts for a semester at the end of 2009. She lives and works in Glasgow.
