"It is very hard to describe a work by the British conceptual artist Ceal Floyer because description overburdens it. Her practice was so finely wrought that it existed only in the experience between a work's idea and its absorption. Ceal handled this equation deftly and with perfect poise, but it was a perilous and naked process with little or no place to hide, or none."
"This is why I wanted to add something to last month's obituary of her by Jonathan Watkins. Ceal was exceptional and brave. Her work laid her bare to the vicissitudes of existence because that's what it was made from. Her practice was so embedded in her life that living with a brain tumour for 23 years took a toll on it, despite her continued defiance and disregard for the time limits allotted to her by her prognosis."
Ceal Floyer produced conceptual works that depended on the delicate moment between an idea's inception and its perception, making description burdensome. Her practice was finely wrought and often nakedly exposed, leaving little room to hide. A 23-year struggle with a brain tumour eroded her capacity to realize many projects, though she retained defiance and meticulous control. The interplay between her brain and her work drew diagnostic interest from her surgeon. Isolation followed her refusal to reveal vulnerability, yet in palliative care she briefly reclaimed performative vitality, receiving visitors and gesturing to a wooden crucifix.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]