The 'Bratpack' strike back!
Thank goodness the Chapman brothers have a sense of humour. In the last fourteen years Jake and Dinos have laid their hands upon the monuments of history, humanity and modern society and produced mutated mannequins, deformed children and Nazi figurines. One couldn't help but get the impression that an exhibition which professed to be "pleasurable disgust in the theatre of abhorrence" was going to be more of the same from the Brothers Shock. Tracy Emin's latest work, in 'This is Another Place' could only avoid repetition by making her self-exploration rather narrow and inward. The Chapmans seem to fall into the opposite trap since 'The Rape of Creativity' has a desolate and disparate quality in places.
However, where Emin's work was compromised by its ultra-personal scope, this collection is able to achieve an unusual breadth and depth both in its array of protagonists and its attacks upon them. Characterial representations are central to TroC; the familiar iconic quality of Ronald McDonald beautifully exploited in intricate visions drawn in ink whilst the anonymity of the perennial anti-social pervert is explored in the finale. The work is never subtle, but nor is it earth-shatteringly original. The juxtaposition of innocence and corruption is furniture for this genre, as is the blunt appeal to disgust exemplified by a stale Happy Meal and a defecating wolf-dog. "Rape" in the title of the collection is indicative of the Chapmans' aggressive approach - a frustration that reads: "they whisper where they should shout."
The occasional slogans provide a blunt commentary on the more complex pieces, but are used infrequently enough so as not to undermine TroC's biggest strength, which is its anarchy. Etchings, paintings and drawings in ink and felt tip are unnamed and sparingly inter-referential, debasing any sense of comfort the liberal audience might have built up by being familiar with shock art.
Chapman critics do point to the fact that the shock factor has a limited shelf life, especially among a generation desensitised by television violence and most at home with icons and soundbites. Longevity, or at least depth, for this collection lies not in aiming to shock bluntly but with an intoxicatingly anarchic sense of humour. The demonisation of multinational corporations is not something to which the Chapmans lay an inventor's claim,but their dexterously amusing treatment of the subject matter is refreshing. Taboos collide with a consciously boyish humour; their sheer energy in hacking apart delicate sculpture and defacing supposedly original Goya etchings is breathtaking. It's no great discovery to realise that the brothers are fearless; the question for their fifth major work was whether they were disappointingly shallow - as Jake himself recently suggested.
That question can, I think, be answered thus: So long as consumers still have an appetite for BigMacs, I think the Chapmans will have a long way to go to be regarded as shallow.
Rodrigo Davies
"The Rape of Creativity" can be seen at Modern Art Oxford until June 8.
24th Apr 2003