THE Bull-Ox Herding Series (Cruising Masculinity) draws on references as diverse as the theorist Walter Benjamin and the Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson. These overlay a 12th century Chinese allegory, telling, over 10 frames, the story of the quest for a lost ox.
The immediate impact Of the works in the main gallery space is somewhere between willow pattern china, Tex Avery cowboys and Victorian decoupage.
For those attempting to find a way into this profusion of idea and reference, the catalogue essays raise questions of femininity, masculinity, sexuality, gender anxiety, symbolism, ways of seeing, Freudian analysis and the heroic vision quest.
How much these issues are addressed or resolved in the artworks themselves is debatable. Wilson is an artist who thinks in words and uses symbolic hooks to hang them on.
In the back room of the Project hang 36 long narrow frames, each containing a different bovine image, some taken from fine air prints, others from reference books or cartoons.
These provide a fascinating art historical overview of the origins of contemporary culture and, taken as an entire series, present a beautiful piece of work.
At first glance what seem to be lithographs or perhaps screen prints are actually photocopies on graph paper. The element of craft here has been replaced with critical theoretical practice, worked into images and framed for the gallery context. There are perhaps arguments to be made for the difference between textual theory and symbolic representation, but here the ideas are interesting and the exhibition is more coherent than Wilson's Queer Heterodite the City Arts Centre last year.
It is also commendable for not taking the more obvious, easy ways into Queer Theory, and for interesting imagery which gives food for thought on many levels, Mick Wilson's work is also currently on show at Pride in the City Arts Centre.
