100,000 visitors admire… empty art gallery
FOR most people, a visit to an art gallery usually involves seeing some of the world’s best paintings.
But it seems less is more at one Scottish gallery where more than 100,000 visitors last year viewed a show containing no work.
Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art says the space left empty after Dutch artist Marlie Mul refused to produce any art for her exhibition turned into a surprise hit after she suggested the empty space could be billed as This Exhibition Has Been Cancelled.
Visitors were greeted by 21 billboards explaining the non-show, which ran for five months from May to October and still cost £11,000. Museum bosses claimed it was meant to ‘make the public question how relevant a new art exhibition is in modern society’, but critics attacked Glasgow City Council for wasting money while slashing services to plug a £53million black hole in this year’s budget.
Scottish Conservative culture spokesman Rachael Hamilton said: ‘While everyone’s idea of art is different, this really is pushing the tolerance of taxpayers.’
Glasgow Labour MSP James Kelly said: ‘The people of Glasgow will not take kindly to such extravagance.’
The exhibition came only three years after the same artist cashed in by selling sculptures that resembled dirty puddles for £3,400 each. Last year, in the absence of any work by Miss Mul, the gallery chose to use the show to ask members of the public for suggestions on how best to fill the space.
Drawing classes, film screenings and yoga sessions were all put forward as suggestions by some of the 108,756 visitors.
Miss Mul said: ‘I told the gallery to use the vacant space in whichever way they thought would be suitable. It was their idea to use this as an opportunity for members of the public to apply to do events in the space.’
Glasgow Life, the arm’s-length body that manages the city’s galleries, refused to say how much Miss Mul was paid.
A spokesman said: ‘More than 100,000 people visited the exhibition and feedback has been very positive.’