Liz Larner review – crystal comets crash to Earth yet fail to make much impact

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Liz Larner review – crystal comets crash to Earth yet fail to make much impact

The Guardian · 2 hours ago

Liz Larner's first UK institutional exhibition, at Camden Art Centre in London, features new ceramic and plastic sculptures alongside a handful of older pieces, but the pairing struggles to cohere. The show centres on around half a dozen glittering ceramic sculptures modelled on Nasa scans of real asteroids, intended as symbols of corporate greed, ecological collapse and sexism, alongside wall-mounted ceramic "slabs" resembling fossils and small clusters of discarded plastic arranged like galaxies.

The reviewer praises much of the newer ceramic and plastic work, particularly the fossil-like slabs and plastic-detritus clusters, but finds the inclusion of Larner's earlier metal and textile sculptures jarring and poorly integrated, especially a new golden arch piece referencing the mythological figure of Lilith. The overall verdict is that curating a mix of eras and materials, rather than a clearer retrospective, has produced a confusing introduction to an artist who has been developing her layered, referential style in Los Angeles since the 1980s.

  • Liz Larner's first UK show opens at Camden Art Centre, London
  • Asteroid-inspired ceramics symbolise greed, ecology and sexism themes
  • Mixing old and new works makes the exhibition feel muddled

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