Review by Biljana Mickov

'Mary Fitzpatrick - Fotografije' has opened at The Center for Visual Culture - The Golden Eye Gallery, Novi Sad, Serbia.

The exhibition will run from the 12th to the 31st August 2006.
Zlatno Oko, Center Za Vizuelnu Kulturu, Novi Sad, Serbia

Mary Fitzpatrick is a Contemporary Fine Artist working with painting, photography and video. She is currently based in Liverpool, UK and has recently been working on a long term project in the Middle East called Failaka.

The Artist has worked on the Failaka project in Kuwait over a long period of time since 1998. The works on display in the Golden Eye Gallery were completed over a three-year period. They were produced on Failaka Island, the island in the Arabic sea which was abandoned after the Gulf War in 1991 - The ruins are still there. Mary’s work are focused on the therein scene, on the ruined schools, destroyed bank, discarded military equipment, clothing, and children's paintings left in one of the schools. Fitzpatrick is completely concentrated on those images but the presence of war is giving rise for many emotions. Not just as human anger but more different emotions that we can see on the pictures.

On the global stage big changes are happening – energetic crises are present, misapprehensions and political conflicts occur, which has been actual since the beginning of nineties.

The artist with her artistic activity is not in a position to change society, making effect on societys conditions or advancements, but she can express “human or not” feelings. The work has a powerful presence in the space of the Golden Eye gallery .The titles of exhibition such as the School, the Bank, the Bag, Battle scene, Earth, Unearthed, Bombed houses are making and symbolizing the cold military action. The ragged books, the dry choppy earth, the abandoned doll, the rambling bags, bombed house, destroyed interiors …..

The strongest point of the exhibition is the image of the Abandoned Doll even if it’s as a document of crime is not the cruelest in the show. At the same time in that image we are seeing the humanity and brutality and because of that the image of the Doll is very important as both a document and high level expression of symbolic artistic composition / photography.

It should be emphasised that the color in the work has an intense symbolic meaning but the red color can also be seen in the black and white work which practically shows us the high artistic expression. The installation comprises largescale colour photographic installation works with a few black and white works.

The artist is concentrating on details with high importance which makes the exhibition active and dynamic. Especially the red wall in the center part of the gallery is looking very strong with an installation of photographs of bullets in black oil named the “Battle scene".

Every picture in this exhibition is a symbolic reminder of grief and pain. The photographs are showing us the abandoned domestic landscape and its powerful effect after destruction.

The exhibition looks very dynamic even whilst showing us the quiet aftermath of war. Even though war stopped years ago in this particular place we can see Mary’s art in relation to the present context in a world where war is and continues to be and especially in the light of the recent conflict in Lebanon.

Our attention is occupied with detailed intentions which are dominating through the photographic medium each detail working together to make a painted landscape.Each individual scene works in unison with each other so that the exhibition conspires to work and look like one whole complete largescale image, painting or installation in the space “painted by the war”, the textures reminiscent of a Tapies painting.

The exhibition will be on until the end of August in the Golden Eye Gallery when it will move to other artistic spaces or Biennials as a reliable artistic document of our time. We are looking forward to collaborating on a book project in the near future with the artist. The installation will also take part in an exhibition later in the year in Dhakar.

Text by Curator Biljana Mickov

www.maryfitzpatrick.co.uk