Where It All Happened Once

I visited the Richard Hughes exhibition at the Tramway yesterday and was struck by both its conceptual rigour and beautifully crafted artifice. Many of the sculptures appeared to be discarded ‘found objects’ but upon closer inspection revealed themselves to be remarkably eerie simulations which had been painstakingly crafted in polyester resin, fibreglass and painted bronze. These carefully rendered models of urban detritus seem caught within a state of strange flux; a full scale replica of a dilapidated community centre hovers in mid air, bewitchingly tilted, its windows and doors barred and hermetically sealed to all visitors. Yet, despite all its absurd location in space and foreboding presence, its internal lights and extractor fans are switched on, presenting a curious halfway house between social function and oneiric ritual. A building where youthful optimism and childhood wonder once flourished is now revealed as yet another grim reminder of the dark wasteland of failed civic idealism and haunted nostalgia. Disquieting stuff indeed. Richard Hughes has an uncanny knack of magically transforming the neglected, burnt out and grime smeared objects of our social decay into curiously enchanting artifacts which are powerfully charged with cultural history and urban alchemy. An exhibition very much worth seeing. 

Where It All happened Once, Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 26 Oct - Sun 16th December

More about Richard Hughes here.