The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureArt

Holly Slingsby – Behind the Curtain at the Tintype Gallery

Holly Slingsby – Behind the Curtain at the Tintype Gallery | Exhibition review
28 May 2015
Jodie Shelpy
Avatar
Shot by Adriana Ayala
Avatar
Jodie Shelpy Shot by Adriana Ayala
28 May 2015

Exhibition and art

Jodie Shelpy

Holly Slingsby – Behind the Curtain at the Tintype Gallery

★★★★★

Dates

20th May 2015 - 13th June 2015

Entry

Free

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

Venus no longer acts as the goddess of love, she’s a brand of women’s razor. Nike no longer personifies victory, she sells shoes. It is this contemporary, consumerist use of mythology that is the theme behind Holly Slingsby’s provocative performance in Tintype’s Project Space.Holly Slingsby at Tintype Gallery - AdrianaAyala - TheUpcoming - 1

The fascination with how the ancient translates to modern, secular society – trivialised and commoditised – has inspired Slingsby to chew up and regurgitate these visions of the divine in her own interpretation, through a spiritual, two-hour performance. From her jumbled, handmade props, scattered on the ground like children’s toys, she re-invents religious and mythical figures, from Cleopatra to the Goddess of Knossos. She becomes a mannequin for history, a living Renaissance painting with a cardboard crown.

Slingsby’s attempts to capture the divine through tea towels and scraps of tinsel inevitably fail, but it is humanity’s continued effort to do so that interests her, which is expressed clearly and intelligently through her lo-fi approach.

She throws props around a backdrop of huge cardboard castles with a temperamental energy, stalking the space sulkily, occasionally stopping to strike a pose. She is nonchalant, treating the gods she depicts with the same disposability as the false, pound-shop beard she uses to replicate them. 

This performance is passionate, informed, and rich in references. The show’s title, Behind the Curtain, nods to the theatre, but refers also to the Book of Exodus and the passages that give instructions for making the temple curtain and robes. It’s a title that perfectly sums up this blend of opulence, iconography, and school nativity.

The performance is part of Tintype’s annual Project Space, which Slingsby had been invited to use as a studio before her final performance. This is the fourth major solo performance for Slingsby, who studied at the Ruskin School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art. A text by multi-disciplinary artist Brian Catling accompanied the performance.

★★★★★

Jodie Shepley
Photos: Adriana Ayala

Behind the Curtain is at Tintype Gallery from 20th May until 13th June 2015, for further information visit here.

Related ItemsHolly Slingsbytintype gallery

More in Art

Rationalism on Set at Estorick Collection

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

If all art is autobiographical, how should we approach it?

The editorial unit
Read More

ISelf Collection: Bumped Bodies at Whitechapel Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Monet and Architecture at the National Gallery

★★★★★
Daniel Amir
Read More

Must-see London exhibitions this April

Anna Souter
Read More

Joan Jonas – BMW Tate Live Exhibition: Ten Days Six Nights at the Tate

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Tacita Dean: Still Life at the National Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Tacita Dean: Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery

★★★★★
Anna Souter
Read More

Isle of Dogs exhibition in London: Explore Wes Anderson’s latest film’s sets

Euan Franklin
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Exhibition and art

Jodie Shelpy

Holly Slingsby – Behind the Curtain at the Tintype Gallery

★★★★★

Dates

20th May 2015 - 13th June 2015

Entry

Free

Links & directions

WebsiteMap

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Hide in Mayfair: Dabbous raises the bar of informal fine dining with his new restaurant
    ★★★★★
    Food & Drinks
  • The Vaccines and Whenyoung at Alexandra Palace
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Gregory Porter at the Royal Albert Hall
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Instructions for Correct Assembly at Royal Court Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Tribeca Film Festival 2018: On the red carpet with the stars of Westworld season 2
    Cinema
  • Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Hinds at Electric Brixton
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Faceless
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Half Breed
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Bat Out of Hell at the Dominion Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Hinds at Electric Brixton
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Half Breed
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Education, Education, Education at Shoreditch Town Hall
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Gregory Porter at the Royal Albert Hall
    ★★★★★
    Live music

Instagram

Something is wrong. Response takes too long or there is JS error. Press Ctrl+Shift+J or Cmd+Shift+J on a Mac.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • New London restaurant openings and pop-ups
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Subscribe
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

The Look of Silence | Movie review
Corin Sworn – Silent Sticks at the Whitechapel Gallery | Exhibition review