Georgia Lucas-Going at Jupiter Woods
This solo exhibition at Jupiter Woods is exactly what I want in a
show, in that the more time I spend thinking about it, the more the work gives.
I first came across Georgia Lucas-Going in her degree show at the Slade School
in 2017, and I was excited to see how her practice has progressed. More than
this, the collaborative element with Goldsmiths University's Women's Art
Library drew me in; there's plenty of talk about "women's art" but to
see artists engaging in its histories (and, more importantly, future) is far
more interesting than the incredibly dull stance of focusing on the number of
women artists represented by blue chip galleries. We’re living in dark times,
people, let’s head straight to conquering the big issues.
Installation view: Georgia Lucas-Going 'Misses Everything', 30 August-22 September 2019;
Jupiter Woods, London.
‘Misses Everything’ feels like a double-entendre; in the working
world we are always “busy” and always feel burnt out, and wondering what we’re
missing (although the term ‘FOMO’ seems to be thankfully dying a death). A
second reading of the title is Mrs Everything, whereby women have the biggest
pressure to achieve the most in every facet of our lives, while balancing these
different elements. Then we are constantly feeling like a failure if anything
is slipping, whether this is social, romance, fitness, career etc.
This is certainly perpetuated by social media, and for most of us
it has got to the point of platforms being a self-fulfilling prophecy, a parody
of itself. When I log into Facebook (solely for work purposes) I am bombarded
with people I no longer know getting engaged, getting married, having baby
showers… On Instagram, I have a bit more choice in what I see, but
picture-perfect yoga poses and ultra-thin bodies wearing expensive clothes and
exquisite makeup often slip through the cracks. It’s so important to remember
that it is all (and I mean all)
superficial; while undoubtedly people are content with certain elements of
their life, this super-slick 24/7 happiness is a ruse which benefits no one.
Installation view: Georgia Lucas-Going 'Misses Everything', 30 August-22 September 2019;
Jupiter Woods, London.
‘Misses Everything’ explores “how we can thrive through everyday
acts of resistance” and the word ‘resistance’ means different things in
different moments and times. Existence itself can be a form of resistance, but
today it is scarcely sufficient to be passive. Lucas-Going has included a poem
as part of the exhibition; its final line is “Knowing that art will not save
the world” is crucial in not only gaining perspective but understanding that
although the politics are immersed in the work, artwork itself rarely gains a
broad enough audience to be considered a protest.
Accessibility and engaging with all audiences is important when I
think about exhibition making, and the fact that the work “utilises disruption
in a public space as an act of sharing work with a choice of entering the
gallery space or not”, is a great idea. ‘Hiya’, a mesh PVC banner, hangs on the
side of the building and a sound piece has been installed in the underpass; I
must give full disclosure that I didn’t fully experience the latter, as I was
by myself, it was a grey, drizzly day and didn’t feel particularly safe in the
empty walkway. Protecting yourself is your prerogative!
Installation view: Georgia Lucas-Going 'Misses Everything', 30 August-22 September 2019;
Jupiter Woods, London.
The ‘Homesickness’ photographic series are four striking works
which feel eerily familiar; they wouldn’t have looked out of place at the
Saatchi Gallery’s ‘Selfie to Self-Expression’ 2017 exhibition. Based on
screenshots from Facetime calls, the artist is shown in various calls with her
face blurred out, emphasising the physical distance from home and the emotional
strain this can put on relationships as well as self-identity. A conch shell
from Barbados in the work ‘M+D+S+H’ grounds the artist (and audience) to her
spiritual home, her roots. Jupiter Woods being a domestic based space is apt to
the idea of dispelling boundaries and repurposing places in Lucas-Going’s work,
but ultimately allows the artist’s voice to override the location by spilling
into the street and the community. Engaging with the optimum number of people
is, of course, an ongoing project and one that involves much trial and error,
but adapting public real estate and spaces is certainly an encouraging step and
one that I hope to see more of.