Review: Judith Barry "Body Without Limits"

Abstract

The selected works in the exhibition provided a profound idea about the work body, of her subjects, and her work style. The mixture between large sized walk-in video installation, projections and photo series proved the artists' diversity of technology, artistic means and spectator-oriented approach. Impressive were the number of exhibited works which allowed a sincere engagement in the artists' ideas. Yet the title of the exhibition was misleading, since "Body without limits" laid to much weight on the literal interpretation of the notion "body" whereas Barry plays in her work with the perspectives on the body, the human personality and self-construction. From more neutral, scientific, to lyric and poetic pieces, one can see a broad variety of playful approaches and interpretations realized within the scope of video art. Another deficit of the exhibition was the sparsely illuminated texts that explained the exhibited pieces. This made it hard to gather theoretical information for those interested in, for example, the artists' statement. Since Barry's ideas were quite complex and made references to historical events, an easier access to more information would have been desirable.