Aidan McNeill
dal 3/3/2011 al 1/4/2011
Segnalato da
3/3/2011
Aidan McNeill
Payne Shurvell, London
Cast. In a series of large-scale photographic works, McNeill references both the Romantic tradition, and the romance of the theatre, taking us behind the curtains of musical theatre's most extravagant fictions to document a very different kind of production. Curated by Emma Elia-Shaul.
PayneShurvell is pleased to present ‘CAST’, an exhibition of new photographic and
video work by Aidan McNeill.
For her first solo exhibition at the gallery, McNeill takes us behind the curtains of
musical theatre’s most extravagant fictions to document a very different kind of
production.
In a series of large-scale photographic
works, McNeill references both the
Romantic tradition, and the romance of the
theatre. At first glance, the photographs
seem to image an ethereal world of
shadows and light. However, underlying are
the signs of the mapping of staged action.
Prop tape, scratches and lines of trap doors
highlight the overall mechanics of the whole
within this systematic collaboration of
production.
McNeill also presents Performance 139: a video installation recorded from the live feed
of a Musical Director conducting the orchestra of a major West End Musical.
Contrasting with the Director’s impassioned gestures, the film is sound-tracked by a
stream of letters and numbers as the Deputy Stage Manager calmly and
simultaneously calls into action an intricate pattern of lighting and visual effects that
recreate the drama on stage.
In deconstructing the workings of the show itself, ideas of authorship and spectacle are
questioned, so that the onlooker’s role takes centre stage in a complex interplay of
placement, manipulation and control.
Aidan McNeill (b.1976) has an MA, Fine Art from Central Saint Martins. She has
shown in exhibitions including ‘The HA Project’ (London/Helsinki, 2007), ‘Salon 09’’
(Matt Roberts Arts, 2009) and ‘A Bright and Guilty Place’ (PayneShurvell, 2010). Her
work is held in private and public collections in the UK and North America.
CAST is curated by Emma Elia-Shaul who has had exhibitions at public and
commercial spaces, including The Hospital, City Atrium, The Photographers’ Gallery,
Outline (Amsterdam), Capital Culture, Artprocess (Paris) and Gallery Westland Place.
Press contact: Joanne Shurvell
jo@payneshurvell.com / Mobile: +44 (0) 7977 996568
Opening friday 4 march
Payne Shurvell
16 Hewett Street - London
Open: Wed-Sat 11am–6pm and by appointment
admission free