Keith Farquhar &
Sara MacKillop
Barbecue 2
13 February — 13 March, 2021
Office Baroque
Harmoniestraat 29, Antwerp
Office Baroque is delighted to announce a two-person exhibition of new work by Keith Farquhar and the London based artist Sara MacKillop. The new bodies of work exhibited in Barbecue 2 began taking form in March 2020 when activity and access to resources and materials was vastly diminished. Throughout this period Farquhar and MacKillop were in dialogue with each other, sometimes discussing what they were making, sometimes not, sending images to each other as their work evolved.
Farquhar’s Barbecue works begin with the most basic act of collecting wooden sticks whilst walking in the woods and pathways around his studio in Edinburgh. In the studio the sticks are transformed into crudely-crafted bows before being framed by hanging them on found doors using simple robe-hooks. His other body of works are made by stapling found clothes onto found and sometimes eccentrically shaped boards, a method of working that the artist used to good effect in his Bastards series in the early 2000’s. This time however, the work is less planned, the clothes not so specifically chosen and the compositions improvised, resulting in works that are more ambiguous and avoid literal interpretation.
MacKillop’s Calendar Houses are constructed from various domestic and office calendars and magazine-files bought from shops around her flat in London. The works are composed through her semi-distracted re-organisation of these objects. Working in series has allowed MacKillop to push the boundaries of what constitutes a model house to include items that have the appearance of hybrid alpine cottages and/or postmodern follies. As with many of MacKillop’s sculptures the works are transitory in nature: their ready-made components remaining unfixed and unaltered, allowing for the idea that they could return to their initial function after being exhibited.
Seen together, these bodies of work begin to form a picture of personal experience and subjective realities within our current state of affairs, both global and local - a scenario where time has slowed and wants to be filled and where an underlying anxiety permeates for good reason. For artists such as MacKillop and Farquhar, an absorption in ones work and the offering of mutual support provides solace, resilience and the potential for new directions.
Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, found door, wood, nylon cord, robe hook, 202 x 67 x 4 cm (79 1/2 x 26 3/8 x 1 5/8 in)
Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, found door, wood, nylon cord, robe hook, 202 x 67 x 4 cm (79 1/2 x 26 3/8 x 1 5/8 in)
Sara MacKillop, Calendar House, 2020 Magazine files, calendar, 17 x 27 cm (6 3/4 x 10 5/8 in)
Sara MacKillop, Calendar House, 2020 Magazine files, calendar, 17 x 27 cm (6 3/4 x 10 5/8 in)
Keith Farquhar, Just Eat, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 120 x 120 x 12 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 x 4 3/4 in)
Keith Farquhar, Just Eat, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 120 x 120 x 12 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 x 4 3/4 in)
Keith Farquhar, Falling and Laughing, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 196 x 122 x 5 cm (77 1/8 x 48 1/8 x 2 in)
Keith Farquhar, Falling and Laughing, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 196 x 122 x 5 cm (77 1/8 x 48 1/8 x 2 in)
![Installation view, Barbecue 2, Office Baroque, Antwerp](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613471857201-HD5EI3FW4QBNFLK7KP4Z/DSCF3257.jpg)
Installation view, Barbecue 2, Office Baroque, Antwerp
![Installation view, Barbecue 2, Office Baroque, Antwerp](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613471857487-GW9JF0B0VC3BGIHHVTP2/DSCF3252.jpg)
Installation view, Barbecue 2, Office Baroque, Antwerp
![Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, fibre-board door, wood, nylon chord, robe hook, 198 x 76 x 4 cm (78 x 29 7/8 x 1 5/8 in)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613471838358-2VTO4G28HV82TNIWSYHS/DSCF3190.jpg)
Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, fibre-board door, wood, nylon chord, robe hook, 198 x 76 x 4 cm (78 x 29 7/8 x 1 5/8 in)
![Detail: Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, fibre-board door, wood, nylon chord, robe hook, 198 x 76 x 4 cm (78 x 29 7/8 x 1 5/8 in)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613471842660-RDDE4VQK9BV7J06CVCSA/DSCF3196.jpg)
Detail: Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, fibre-board door, wood, nylon chord, robe hook, 198 x 76 x 4 cm (78 x 29 7/8 x 1 5/8 in)
![Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, Household paint on found door, wood, nylon cord, robe hook, 198 x 69 x 4 cm (78 x 27 1/8 x 1 5/8 in)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613471932441-HM4H8DWAXLZ0691BOWSU/DSCF3145.jpg)
Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, Household paint on found door, wood, nylon cord, robe hook, 198 x 69 x 4 cm (78 x 27 1/8 x 1 5/8 in)
![Detail: Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, Household paint on found door, wood, nylon cord, robe hook, 198 x 69 x 4 cm (78 x 27 1/8 x 1 5/8 in)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613471845448-3AV62JCJ3T3S86DIO8DO/DSCF3197.jpg)
Detail: Keith Farquhar, Barbecue, 2020, Household paint on found door, wood, nylon cord, robe hook, 198 x 69 x 4 cm (78 x 27 1/8 x 1 5/8 in)
![Installation view, Barbecue 2, Office Baroque, Antwerp](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613473622753-JRBHF0UIKT7CN92403XU/DSCF3253.jpg)
Installation view, Barbecue 2, Office Baroque, Antwerp
![Keith Farquhar, Sara's new job, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 76 x 61 x 10 cm (29 7/8 x 24 1/8 x 4 in)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613472419821-7HUH8RU5EGVGQFLFJM8K/DSCF3245.jpg)
Keith Farquhar, Sara's new job, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 76 x 61 x 10 cm (29 7/8 x 24 1/8 x 4 in)
![Detail: Keith Farquhar, Sara's new job, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 76 x 61 x 10 cm (29 7/8 x 24 1/8 x 4 in)](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5e7b81722d5e5f7acf8e6f31/1613472421877-FVEEGK6UGA6GUHHEY3T6/DSCF3249.jpg)
Detail: Keith Farquhar, Sara's new job, 2021, found clothes on found wood, 76 x 61 x 10 cm (29 7/8 x 24 1/8 x 4 in)