Viewing Karla Black: sculptures (2001-2021) – details for a retrospective

Following a year of virtual walkthroughs and screen-scrolling through art, Karla Black’s latest exhibition at the Fruitmarket is a revelation. A reminder of the power of immersive exhibitions and of physical engagement of art, sculptures (2001-2021): details for a retrospective brings together two decades’ worth of work – many of them specially designed for Fruitmarket, the exhibition space in Edinburgh that takes the artist back to her native Scotland.

Black is a radical experimenter. From her use of colours to the state of her sculptures – whether hanging, spreading, hovering or sitting – her work is innovative and shifting. Her use of materials is just as diverse, spanning cardboard, sugar paper, polystyrene, gels, and even cleaning products. The one constant is the viewer: her art needs to be seen and walked amongst, and Black acknowledges and embraces the audience as the key protagonist of her work.

One of the key pieces of the show is Waiver for Shade (2021), which responds fabulously to the dark and industrial nature of Fruitmarket. The work is a product of the intuitive and physical capabilities of Black’s body. Determined by the extent of her reach, the strength of her throw, her impulsive use of materials in the present moment, it is a product of raw creativity – a welcome and overdue celebration of art experienced IRL.