Midtown

In the first instance, Midtown is a form of optical illusion. Clouds float by, mirrored in the windows, interrupted by a band of natural stone. Window frames and floors divide the surface into an endless number of squares and diamonds. One facade, at an angle to another, makes you wonder which is closer. This is Manhattan, New York, a rampant geometric growth of steel, marble, concrete, mirrored glass, between which the camera of Sarah Morris moves calmly. Times Square, Madison Garden, 57th Street. The first urban portrait by the artist is a kind of declaration of principle. The painter Sarah Morris lays her cards on the table. She shows where the harsh geometric structures that she paints in glossy lacquer in bright colours on the canvas come from. When she films the city, it is with the gaze of the painter looking for structure. From a great distance, with another layer in between, thanks to the electronic music of Liam Gillick, that feels its way along the frontages. At street level, between the people, the sound is more threatening and chaotic, with reverberating of claxons. The distance remains. The city becomes a peepshow that we look at with one eye squeezed shut. All the depth disappears. (SB)