Got some of my girls together for a wander round this exhibition one Sunday at the end of May. I'd never heard of Annette Messager before this exhibition. She is described as '...one of Europe's most important contemporary artists...' so it shows how little I've been researching or reading sice I left Univeristy. I could see there were going to be drawings and installations and photos which really drew me to it as I love artists work that feels autobiographical even if it's conceptual. It started off fairly tame in terms of content but as we made our way around the installations and sculputres became bigger and more surreal almost like you were wandering deeper and deeper into Messager's pysche. The ground floor ended with a large space that almost looked like a pale and pastel soft-toy area but was infact a collection of human organs made from parachute-like material. They were inflating and deflating, the sound of the air pumping in and out eerily accompanying the visual display.
Up the stairs we entered a room with an opening on the back wall from which swathes of deep scarlet silk billowed out into the room, spreading out and across almost nipping at our toes.
The room was unlit apart from alternating glowing lamps underneath the fabric. I may have stayed in here a little too long and was feeling pretty disturbed by the time we entered the rooms with all the dismembered soft toys and teddy bears hanging from ropes and being pulled around on pulleys and levers.
The work was amazingingly powerful and really took you through several emotional states. I was greatful for the fresh air and the normality of the south bank when we left The Hayward.
Here's a photo gallery of the Messager Retrospective on the Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/mar/05/annette-messager-hayward-retrospective?picture=344185263
