Linder, Hayward Gallery

It's rare that I go to an exhibition where I've never heard of the artist, but this was the case. Photo Montage too, an interesting technique that when done well, can give you a shot of 'that's cool', however, it does have a stigma of 'anyone can do that'.

The Hayward itself, it's like walking into a concrete spaceship. The atrium is wonderfully small, however, the galleries are incredible. Vast, lonely, polished, sexy.

Linder, is a pioneering female artist whose satirical feminist photo montages, rip into discussing women's roles and executes them in an avantgarde / cool but dark and poignant way. This exhibtion defintely makes you stop and think. A few pictures along one wall, show a couple with their faces covered around the house, with a twist.. It's a crude way of putting it but it twists your mind into thinking what Linder is trying to really say. It's distorted pop art meets, contemporary, meets old school. I've always loved small works , a recent trend, the intimacy of a small frame automatically gives you a small sense of the voyeur, but the undertones can be sinister-ish, definitely of an era, the 70's in fact.

'Untitled' a leitmotif in the exhibtion sits on one wall, not big, but with eye catching presence, think the Jackie O / Warhol then twist the mouth a bit. An installation however really caught my eye - 'She / She' a 12 work masterpeice, hung in grid form. You walk past, then the quotes catch your eye, then the pictures then the quotes, it all works beautifully. I'm sure Tracey would have taken notes. It's filled with angst, but sentimentally done.

Go and see this, it's fantastic. Plus the South Bank on a sunny day is alway a great brutalist day out.

On until May 25th.

© Mark Blower / Linder / Hayward Gallery