Nalini Malani: My Reality is Different

Innovative installation at the National Gallery by Nalini Malani.

It consists of a room in which you are surrounded by rapidly changing images of works from the gallery’s collection and the Holburne Museum in Bath overlaid with graphics by the artist. There is then a soundscape of the story of Cassandra from the Trojan War in her own words.

The idea of the show is to offer a new interpretation of the works and the graphics reflect how he artist has looked at the works. She also adds portraits of imagined people from Asia and Africa with their faces disappearing behind stock-market charts.

I thought the idea behind this were fascinating and having done an introductory talk about it I was looking forward to it however I found the images moved too fast. I’d just be developing a train thought a combination of images when they’d change setting off new ideas. I’m also don’t understand where Cassandra fitted in except to give the voice of a woman. I guess it may introduce people to the paintings and make them look at them a different way. I’d have preferred the high-quality images of the paintings overlaid with the graphics shown statically to give you time.  What’s wrong with slow looking?

Closes 11 June 2023

Review

Evening Standard


 

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