24/1/03

Obesity to order

At Edinburgh's National Gallery of Modern Art, (a short run from Sainsbury or Tesco) a celebration of over-indulgence can be found, or one might say, psychopathic obsession. Food is not on display, but Duane Hanson's unerringly life-sized figures reveal in most cases the results of over-eating. These figures concocted in polyester resin, and ingeniously painted up, seem to put Madame Tussauds into the proverbial cocked hat. The Gallery acquired its first Duane Hanson in the late 1970s, under the guidance of Douglas Hall. Now they offer a full retrospective — disconcerting for some, a source of pleasure to many (ie, whose physique have not yet succumbed to dreaded carbohydrate fillers). There is a curious comatosity about the faces, even Mower of 1995, astride his John Deere lawnmower, is lost in benign reverie. Could there be a gathering campaign for these figures to invade Tussauds and surround Thatcher, Diana, and Kylie with the reality rather than the dream of consumer branding? This is just the start. The exhibition continues through 23 February.