The door opens, and you set foot into the East Wing. In the corner of your left eye you spot Black lurking in the recesses of a wall, and all thoughts of escape become lost. But why would you want to escape? Black is not a ferocious bear, but something alert to your entry, and its presence pleasantly introduces you to Exhibitionism, the ninth in a series of biennial shows curated around the Institute by Courtauld students.

The question comes to mind: do you follow the crimson pathways depicted on the delightful East Wing Nine Plan? Or do you instead throw caution to the wind, taking your chances by roaming nomadically? The answer? It doesn’t matter, because however you experience the exhibition, there is something to appreciate, something to guide a wandering eye, or something that tempts you to reach out – even though you know you should resist. Whether sitting in the Cafe and finding yourself staring at Madeleine Boulesteix’s 8 Cup Multicoloured Chandelier, at the snippets of grimly dangling toes, or emerging from the crypt-like library to see a nest of the dead and the slightly sinister, resinous Listener, there is always something to consider and to enhance the atmosphere.

However, whilst the Academy Hang - that hidden staircase of manifold works - attempts to connect to historical displays in order to exhibit a diversity that might otherwise be difficult to thematise, the sheer plentitude may bar the viewer from gaining a solid visual point of entry. When you can breach this barrier, it further becomes apparent that some of the smaller, perhaps more interesting works are often lost alongside their more prominent, large-scale siblings. Still, Exhibitionism truly shows the talent of these students to reinvent the spaces at their disposal, adding real ambience to this labyrinthine institution.

Until July 2011

SAM LAKE