Art Out of Place
Norwich Castle
> Norwich Castle
The placing of contemporary works of art in this shrewdly curated exhibition has given the museum collection a fresh perspective.
Gavin Turk's giant duck egg is impossibly surreal among the cases of stuffed birds, and in the Mammal Gallery, Darren Phizacklea's subtle intervention Nikehare is another example of the interconnections that make this show such a gratifying experience. Although, in my opinion, Beast by Marina Kappos, which attempts to liken the ferocity of a domestic cat to that of a lion, succeeds only in compressing and distorting poor pussy.
Follow the whinnying and neighing to puzzle at the parallels Lucy Goodman's peculiar video of equine impersonators strikes with the work of Munnings.
Another cleverly placed loan is Gavin Turk's bronze cast rubbish bags Pile, that stop you in your tracks.
The concept of creating a link between curios of diminished quality and prisoners held captive in the castle is potentially powerful, yet the shards and fragments in Julian Walker's controlled piece just didn't possess the promised impact.
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A more successful commission is Ian Skoyles' Connoisseur Deluxe, a riverscape contrived from a selection of jigsaw puzzles. This popular pastime piece interlopes in startlingly garish contrast against the muted watercolours of the Norwich School of Artists.
Reactionary concerns provoked a decision to confine Jonathan Parsons' controversial grey, white and black Union Jack Achrome to the interior of the castle keep. However, one of his six alphanumerical pieces can be seen fluttering atop the EDP's own Prospect House.
I was absorbed and disturbed by the paranoid obsessing of Frances Goodman's sound track in the ladies' loos.
For sheer novelty it's the dents and rust spots that lend believability to Elizabeth Wright's disproportionately scaled Mini Escort that will be a real hit with visitors to this ingenious show.
t Until September 25.
