From the deep 'Freeze' to the showroom floor, By Rebecca Geldard

by pmaxwell, 19 June 2008

Part 1: Art in Shops: Abigail Lane at Matches

Abigail Lane, "Matches", 2008

It's 20 years since 'Freeze', the exhibition organised by 16 Goldsmiths College students, including Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Abigail Lane, which marked the beginning of Brit Art and launched their careers as exponents of the young British artist (YBA)phenomenon. While Hirst and Lucas' public debuts appeared to mine the is-it-art factor (some painted boxes and a pile of metal, respectively), Lane chose the route less contentious, displaying starched shirt collars on the wall as if a flock of ducks above the proverbial suburban mantle.

Abigail Lane, "Misfit", 1994

Lane went on to carve out a very successful career as a solo-artist in the nineties, with high profile exhibitions at Karsten Schubert and Victoria Miro in London, but these days, give or take the odd group show, appears to be working the art/design divide as more of a business than a conceptual art venture. While she has never become a household name on the international art circuit to rival the other YBAs listed here, Lane is certainly garnering critical and public attention as one-third of the intriguing London-based design company Showroom Dummies, alongside print specialist Bob Pain and Brigitte Stepputtis, head of couture at Vivienne Westwood.

But it's very much Abigail Lane the artist being marketed for this particular collaboration between the Marylebone boutique, Matches, and curator of the annual Art Carboot Fair, Karen Ashton. Sadly, I miss the opening night with its Hoxton Pony cocktails and vaudeville fun. But, in retrospect, when I turn up to the shop (a word that hardly describes the fancy world of Matches fashion) on its first day open after the refit, I am relieved to witness it in operation as opposed to the reflective glow of the fabulous and glamorous.

Abigail Lane, "Elephant", 2008

On the flipside, however, it does lack the whiff of razzle-dazzle I was expecting. Lane's interventions to the space appear in the cold light of the trading day decidedly low-key. Her limited edition works available to buy at Matches are arguably more design than art objects – a distinction she seems refreshingly unconcerned about. Though some familiar themes of Lane's art practice are vaguely present – if not so much the uncanny then certainly the theatrical spectacle – but as recently channelled through rather more tangible commercial avenues.

Abigail Lane, "Cup and Saucer", 2008

Circus is the order of the day with photographic imagery of old-world performers and subordinate animals fashioned into prints, tableware and adorning the panels of a Victorian-style screen for the women's section on the ground floor. Downstairs it's tongue-in-cheek macho for the chaps, with similar imagery extended to a series of 1980s-style mirrored tables and a display of cufflinks. Naturally the designer clothes are the focus in this context, but with the exception of the candy-striped and star-sprinkled walls, all evidence of Lane's creative presence could be packed up and stowed away within minutes.

Michael Landy, "Break Down", 2001

It's not like other YBA's haven't played shops before: Lucas and Tracey Emin operated out of a former retail space for six months in 1993 selling mugs, t-shirts and other customised fare. So what is it about this particular arrangement that makes my heart sink? Perhaps it's the proximity of this installation to the site of fellow YBA Michael Landy's 2001 performance work 'Break Down' – a ritual burning of all his worldly possessions (including a work by Lane, his former girlfriend) in the old C&A building on Oxford Street? Highbrow art expectations aside, there's no palpable sense of cheeky invention here that one associates with this group of makers. However nice Lane's merchandise and interior decoration, under the stringent demands of the boutique each element reminds you more of the machinations of the retail world than the plethora of silky fashion items that surround them.