Give Me an Inch at Pipeline

Pipeline

7 November - 21 December 2024

The exhibition Give Me an Inch, featuring new work by six emerging artists from the US, UK, and Canada, centres on the conceptual theme of ‘entry points’; viewers are invited to unlock and decode each work on display via keys offered to them by the artist.

JD Rooney’s 3D wall assemblages integrate photographic prints of his skin with found objects that reference Black culture, such as soundproof foam, old music cassettes, an Afro comb, and Dominoes—a game traditionally played by West Indian men. Positioned near the gallery entrance, Techno Fragment (2024) explores how these culturally significant found objects serve as gateways to engage new audiences.

Beneath the gallery’s front window, Gabriel Kidd’s floor installation I am gentle in securing the prize in my bag before lifting off above my sable washed waste (2024) incorporates stones, shells and other ephemera gathered from the Saddleworth Moors. These items, placed in see-through pockets sewn onto dark green fabric, form a collection precious to the artist. The work reflects the experience of a queer body navigating the English landscape, with the materials and presentation creating a deeply personal and tactile narrative.

Em Kettner’s series of three drawings depict disabled figures in an empowering and playful mode. The works’ low positioning on the gallery walls, embedded in chunky, supportive wooden frames, situates them at the eye level of a seated person or someone using a wheelchair. This placement is a key to understanding the artist’s perspective as a disabled person who depends on networks of support. The installation invites viewers to consider questions of what is accessible to whom – both in art and in everyday life.

On the gallery’s back wall, Rachel Clancy’s figurative paintings explore themes of trickery by building illusory surfaces with layers of oil paint. Frequently depicting domestic spaces, Clancy reconfigures these scenes into obscure compositions. For instance, in Moments in Interval (2024), a carpeted staircase is transformed by inserting hyper-realistically painted wooden elements. Clancy’s trompe-l’oeil-like style reveals subtle clues to past interactions between people and spaces, creating a sense of mystery and nostalgia.

Grace Kalyta’s works engage with the hidden and the concealed. Upholstering and embellishing her canvases with pre-used materials like leather and gemstones, she creates richly textured surfaces. Like clothing is used for seduction, these materials act as entry points to deeper levels of meaning. In Either Steel or Real (2024), displayed on the lower ground floor, the painted canvas beneath the leather alludes to the inner psychological layers we often hide from the world.

Lexia Hachtmann’s ambiguous paintings offer only a few hints to guide the viewer. Using symbols like flowers, her work explores the transience of life. Often working in a dark colour palette, she paints vanitas still lives that evoke a haunting but uncanny beauty. For instance, the oil-on-plywood piece Yellow Flower (2024) takes its title from Virginia Woolf’s The Hours, where the flower symbolises a fleeting moment before a dramatic event. Hachtmann’s work lingers in the space between presence and absence, offering subtle clues to the passage of time.

Overall, the artists in Give Me an Inch use playful and suggestive strategies to invite viewers into their practices. Through open-ended narratives and carefully placed visual cues, they encourage individual interpretations and associations. Furthermore, the exhibition raises powerful questions about authorship and the relations of power between artists and their audience.

To me, the strength of the show lies in its focus on the artwork itself as a starting point, rather than relying heavily on interpretive text. I highly recommend visiting this exhibition—take your time, slow down, and uncover the keys the artists leave behind to access their captivating work.

Christine Takengny, The Roden Senior Curator, Museums Acquisitions 

Give Me an Inch, Pipeline

7 November - 21 December 2024
35 Eastcastle St, London W1W 8DW, gallery opening times: Tuesday to Saturday, 11am - 6pm.