Exhilarating giddiness combined with a perfect sense of form will overwhelm spectators as they enter the new Jim Lambie installation, "Male Stripper", in the Upper Gallery at Modern Art Oxford. Lambie is a graduate of Glasgow Art School and is an internationally acclaimed sculptor who has exhibited across the world and represented Scotland at this year's Venice Biennale.  | | Jim Lambie's Male Stripper at Modern Art Oxford |
Lambie works with familiar shapes and materials, recasting and transforming them into fetishistic and eerily appealing new guises. Dominating the exhibition is Lambie's black-and-white striped floor. It creates a dizzying sense of perspective which is perfectly balanced by the free-flowing nature of the three accompanying pieces. Suspended from the ceiling by aluminium chains, is "Midnight Adonis". It challenges the eye to consider all the different levels of space. "Red Head", meanwhile, is a delightful and sparkling tribute to disco decadence, creating a sense of wonder in the unlikely context of male underwear. As a counterbalance, "Rock Me, Move Me" possesses a hard glossiness in its cobalt blue mattress, which appears to be undermined by the free spirit of the paint below, dribbling back down to the monochrome floor and providing a satisfying sense of closure. Intertwining with the intriguing take on popular culture that is Candice Breitz's "Re-animations", Jim Lambie's latest exhibition is both a reassuring homage to classical traditions of form and perfection, and an experiment in new ways of looking and thinking, and will prove a rewarding experience for visitors of all ages and interests.
By Victoria Roddam
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