Inspired by the work of LS Lowry, a Scottish artist has launched an exhibition of newly commissioned work at The Lowry.
As a part of The Lowry’s EDIT Series, Greig Burgoyne’s The One Who Was Standing Apart From Me, presents screen-based works alongside sculptural interventions, in a series of videos and performances, as well as floor and wall art.
Instead of focusing on what we can see, the Glasgow-born creator explores the broader absences that surround us which aim to ‘visualise the invisible’ within the gallery space.
Burgoyne believes the inspiration he took from Lowry, accompanied with this own knowledge in the arts industry, make for a unique experience both for himself and visitors.
Burgoyne said: “Primarily, I show my work in Europe. I do very few projects in the UK.
“So it’s kind of interesting and encouraging that the opportunity was there to bring some of these ideas that would challenge but also invigorate an understanding about Lowry, away from things that are very nostalgic.”
Enhanced by pencil on paper pieces by LS Lowry, which Burgoyne personally selected for their conceptual properties, the exhibition offers an absurd yet immersive experience that focuses on the performative nature of drawing itself.
Not only did he draw inspiration from LS Lowry, but also from a book written in 1953 by French writer Maurice Blanchot that shares the same title as the Salford-based exhibition.
Burgoyne added: “It’s a very short book about a man sitting in a house, writing about sitting in a house. It’s very French. Very existential, I suppose.
“But as he writes, he becomes aware of the presence of the writing, as though he’s aware of a presence beyond his own. It seemed apt for the title of the show, [it’s] all about absence and presence.”
Burgoyne utilised materials from hessian fabric to silk to “navigate the spaces” and to think about how those spaces “translate into materials”.
Walking through the exhibition space upstairs in The Lowry, one becomes obligated to ask themselves: how do you sense something you can’t see, and how do you see something you can’t sense?
Burgoyne also centred The One Who Was Standing Apart From Me on the importance of involving other performers and the Salford community and beyond in his works to enhance the overall experience.
On the opening day, the exhibition hosted a ‘Lowry Workout’, where dance performers activated the body language featured in LS Lowry’s figures, reiterating gestures repeatedly, while being inside the confines of handcrafted hessian sacks.
Burgoyne said: “I think a drawing [is] an event. rather than a thing that you look at or a commodity.
“The Lowry was a great platform to actually springboard some of these ideas.”
Another event, the ‘Post-it-note Disco’, will be hosted on the closing weekend of the exhibition.
It will be a mass participatory performance, featuring 100 selected participants, who apply to perform, covered head-to-toe in sticky notes. Without using their hands, each performer can shake, kick, or use any other means they wish, until all the notes have fallen from them.
Burgoyne highlighted the reason why he chose to host such a weird and wonderful cooperative performance:
“It’s about removing those constraints about how and where art operates. [I’m] actually inviting them to be part of something.
“Without them being a part of it, the work wouldn’t exist.
“We’re co-creating it rather than reiterating an idea by an artist. And for me, that’s really special.”
Claire Stewart, Curator of the Lowry Collection, thoroughly enjoyed the process of going through every drawing in the LS Lowry Collection and seeing them through Burgoyne’s eyes.
She said: “Lowry’s pictures are so often full of people occupying large open spaces but Greig’s interest has been in the space around the figures, their absence rather than their presence. From that starting point he has developed surreal and engaging work, derived from Lowry but entirely fresh and unique.”
Zoe Watson, Contemporary Curator at The Lowry, said: “Greig offers a fresh perspective on drawing and our sense of space, highlighting absences and what is often overlooked. He has also given us an exciting new approach to engaging with Lowry and the works in our collection. With Greig’s focus on absence and nothingness, he paradoxically turns nothing into something, visualising the invisible.”
EDIT is a strand of the exhibitions programming at The Lowry that enables artists and performers to develop previously unexplored ideas in a gallery setting. Its short-term format allows for ambitious presentations of work, often participatory and engaging with new audiences.
Find out more about EDIT exhibitions at The Lowry here and Greig Burgoyne here.
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