Neville Rae @ Sierra Metro Review

 

Neville Rae is the artist lucky enough to have the inaugural show of Sierra Metro, the new gallery housed in a disused warehouse in Granton. The work reacts to the location of the gallery, drawing attention to this patch of waterfront and, more specifically, its regeneration which is still in its infancy.

Playing on the conventions of architects’ models, Rae seems to put forward suggestions of how the area might be improved by public art. Works such as The Black Swan and 35 Crewe Place appear to be proposals for public sculptures and buildings. However, the titles will trigger a whole set of further connotations to locals, referring to a pub in the area and a building bombed in the war. Rae has saved some of the meaning in the works specifically for residents and those in the know.

United Wire goes a stage further. It replicates the pattern on the back of a digestive biscuit caused by the baking-mesh manufactured in Granton. Removed by scale and medium, the pattern would be unrecognisable even to a former factory worker who might visit the gallery. Rae is asking questions about what it means to be local, but is also commenting on the role of explanation in appreciating art.

Whether a native or an outsider, the full meaning in Neville Rae’s work is deliberately elusive, but when explained gives great satisfaction. Perhaps this is an accidental metaphor for the gallery: Sierra Metro is an impressive and interesting space… once you find it. [Mark Herbert]