14 THE ART OBSERVER May 2008 By Miriam Avery The enigmatic life and work of Nikki de Saint Phalle ranges from the deeply violent and dis- turbing nitty grit- ty of reality to the aesthetically frivolous world of make believe and mythical creatures. This was evident in the broad selection of her work recently on display at the Tate Liverpool. I can unequivocally say that I found it stunning and provocative. Forget vaguely relevant performance art and pretentious ‘barely there’ imagery - it seems that everything Saint de Phalle has ever realised is either deeply rooted in emotions made explicitly clear, or pure visual delight. More often than not it is both. The collection was arranged chrono- logically, charting Saint de Phalle’s life and revealing much about the intense journey of self-discovery she found herself on from a relatively young age. Continuously and experimentally rein- venting herself through her art, her bat- tle to overcome depression was just a small part of the wider war she felt needed to be won. Consistently intrigu- ing, Saint de Phalle tackles issues such as violence, religion, and (female) sex- uality in particular - through a variety of media. Collage, painting, sculpture and film each play a vital role in the explo- ration of power roles and escape from cultural and societal restraint that Saint de Phalle was ultimately striving for. From her early use of household objects to vent frustration at being shoehorned prematurely into the role of wife and mother, Saint de Phalle has always had something to say. Less visually pleasing than the exaggerated symbols of femininity (the fabulous ‘Nanas’) that she came to produce later on, are the curious ‘shooting’ paintings; worth a look if only for the intense anger that they clearly symbol- ise. The most intriguing piece in the entire exhibition however, was a 60-minute film called ‘Daddy’. Utterly disturbing and violently sexual, this was not for the fainthearted; but for an understanding of Saint de Phalle it was incredibly worthwhile and I am sincerely glad that I watched it all the way through. By Sarah E Cunningham Gunther von Hagens’ infamous exhibition has finally landed in Manchester, and it does not dis- appoint. An extraordinary figure himself, it was von Hagens’ own invention, the method of Plastination (a unique and groundbreaking preservation technique) that allows us to observe these magnificent bod- ies; the preserved bodies of numerous donors. This one of kind exhibition blurs the bound- aries between science and art, and subsequently, education and entertainment. EXHIBITION REVIEW Walking into the exhibition is rather like walking into a horror movie, and our gaze is immedi- ately drawn to the various pieces; a skeleton stands proudly in the corner while a selection of bones and ligaments stand close- by, their fragile nature empha- sised by their enclosure within a number of glass display cabinets. A description lies next to each bodily object, thus we never lose sight of the informative value of the pieces. Housed within pro- tective vitrines, these human ‘souvenirs’ are awarded with heightened status, and the glass containers offer value and a sense of importance to the objects. Thus, a polished hip- joint becomes a precious sculp- ture, and effectively, art. Yet for many, the paramount focus of the exhibition includes the completely preserved bodies; manipulated corpses posed in an entertaining yet once again purposeful manner. Our first encounter is with the aptly titled, The Relay Runner  (2007) and we come across both the frame of a sprinting skeleton alongside the equally gruesome muscle- structure. Once again an inform- ative statement is situated to the side of the artwork, it indicates the bones and muscles on show, and enlightens us as to what we are actually looking at. Yet aside from its obvious educational qualities, the manipulated body, posed in a somewhat humorous manner, provokes a range of reactions in spectators, and we experience feelings of shock, horror but ultimately a sense of enchantment; it’s difficult to look away. Further intrigue is created by von Hagens’ Transparent Serial Slices  (2007), a piece consisting of six human ‘slices’, each dis- playing the inner anatomy of the human frame. Covered with a layer of protective glass, each slice is equally shocking, and beautiful. One could even com- pare these smooth segments to stained glass; the intricate bodily interior is quite wonderful to observe, perhaps due to the delicate detailing of the veins, or the splashes of vivid azur-blue and sea-green that outline vari- ous organs. Nevertheless this piece, along with the rest of the exhibition, creates uneasiness in most viewers, even if its grotesque presence captures our immediate attention. One could even compare von Hagens’ bodily-slices with Damien Hirst’s sliced up farm-animals; both are equally shocking. Body Worlds is ultimately, spectacularly controversial, yet its enticing blend of art and science does not fail to provoke and inspire visitors, sparking discus- sion amongst viewers from all walks of life. The exhibition also raises a multitude of questions, are we viewing a clinical dissec- tion or a work of art? Are we effectively showing disrespect to the deceased, or simply honouring them? The exhibition is running at the Museum of Science and Industry until the 29th June. By Miriam Avery I purposely avoided any kind of informa- tion about the Turner Prize before visiting the exhibition at the Liverpool Tate - I wanted to arrive unprejudiced and, that I think I did. Stubbornly refusing to be influenced, I still have not read through the programme, and won’t until this review is finished; the only thing I had heard was that `that bear won, didn’t it?’. `That bear’, a.k.a Mark Wallinger’s `Sleeper’. Not to everyone’s taste (or judging by the comments I was privy to, to hardly anyone’s!), the 154-minute film showing Wallinger in a bear costume, what can only be described as mooching about (wandering round, sitting, standing, leaning, peering outside, occasionally dis- appearing) in a huge glass walled lobby. This unsurprisingly raised chants of `bor- ing! BORING!’ from a throng of small chil- dren sprawled across the floor in front of me. I have to admit, my first thought was a similar one, but I quickly conceded that I should sit down and give it a chance - well, I had been asked to write a review on it! I was very glad I did. Within min- utes the piece had absorbed me com- pletely, and as it continued I found myself lost in deep thought ranging from nihilism, human treatment of animals and western capitalism to the aesthetic quali- ties and contrasts of the different materi- als used. For statement art, this far sur- passed the other entries; for although Zarina Bhimji’s war photographs were hauntingly beautiful, and Mike Nelson’s Amnesiac Shrine aesthetically and meta- physically unnerving, they just did not quite have the capacity to provide such a multi-faceted and poignant commentary on modern society as a man in a bear costume. But I cannot really hope to relate to you what it is all about; Sleeper was an intensely personal yet political experience. To find out more about the artists and their entries visit www.tate.org/liverpool Gunther von Hagen’s fascinating BODY WORLDS exhibition Nikki de Phalle at Tate Liverpool Turner Prize Exhibition at Tate Liverpool