ICA

In a small, undecorated room, I stand amongst a group of onlookers, staring at a set of keys on the floor. A human hand crawls out through a gap between the ground and a slightly-not-long-enough wall, attempting to reach the keys. As we collectively gawk, confounded by the flailing hand, a middle-aged American woman in a sharp trouser suit asks: ‘I wonder if we’re all being terribly English about this, by not getting involved?’ She then proceeds to drag the keys along the floor, causing the hand to chase after them, never allowing it close enough to catch.  Believe it or not, we’re not the participants of some sort of University of Oxford social experiment, rather we are the voyeurs of ‘Ascenseur’, a work of art by the Brazilian artist Laura Lima. First conceived in 2013, it’s now on view in the ICA as part of a recently opened solo exhibition by Lima, spanning works from her repertoire, as well as a brand new commission from which the show, The Drawing Drawing, derives its title.  This work, the centre piece of the show, sits just behind ‘Ascenseur’ in the space’s Lower Gallery. A sort of Alice In Wonderland take on a traditional life drawing class, ‘The Drawing Drawing’ comprises several easels with stools and a nude life model, all sitting on individual podiums which revolve and orbit around the room, constantly obscuring and changing the sitter’s view of the model. People are encouraged to take a seat and use the drawing utensils provided to sketch, after which they...

Three emerging US artists – Jenna Bliss, Buck Ellison and Jasmine Gregory – explore ideas of class, inheritance and assumed values, framed by their experiences of coming of age in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Through different mediums – moving image, photography and painting and assemblage – each artist examines what it means to enter adulthood in an era of financial collapse, incorporating themes of wealth inequity, art as an asset class, and what commodity culture looks like today.