Helena Almeida
Rosa Barba
Uta Barth
Angela Bulloch
Mariana Castillo Deball
Ula Dajerling
Matias Faldbakken
Ellen Harvey
John Hilliard
William E. Jones
Onkar Kular
Noam Toran
David Maljkovic
Melik Ohanian
Trevor Paglen
Peter Peri
Rosangela Renno
Gillian Ayres
Runa Islam
'Magical Consciousness' is about considering when images are no longer enough. It is a group exhibition developed in collaboration with the renowned artist-filmmaker Runa Islam that looks for the potential that comes out of denying or abstracting images. This exhibition considers the possibility of seeing yourself seeing things differently. Gillian Ayres is considered one of the most important British painters working in the abstract style from the post-war period through to the present day, particularly noted for her wide variety of mark-making styles and use of rhythm and colour.
Magical Consciousness
Co-curated by Runa Islam and Arnolfini
Helena Almeida, Rosa Barba, Uta Barth, Angela Bulloch, Mariana Castillo Deball,Ula Dajerling, Matias Faldbakken,Ellen Harvey,John Hilliard, William E. Jones,Onkar Kular & Noam Toran,David Maljkovic, Melik Ohanian, Trevor Paglen,Peter Peri, Rosângela Renno
Magical Consciousness is about considering when images are no longer enough. It is a group exhibition developed in collaboration with the renowned artist-filmmaker Runa Islam that looks for the potential that comes out of denying or abstracting images. This exhibition considers the possibility of seeing yourself seeing things differently.
Magical Consciousness presents works by a selection of artists who look for images at the edges of perception. Rosângela Rennó's video Rosa Vera, 2001, gets its first presentation in the UK - an 'impossible film' without imagery documenting the arrival of the first Portuguese settlers in Brazil. Ellen Harvey's Collection of Impossible Subjects, 2008, an interpretation of a salon-style museum etched onto a large mirror-wall, displays elaborate frames but with the images replaced with glowing light. Historic conceptual works include Helena Almeida's sequence of photographs Inhabited Painting, 1976, in which she paints herself out of the image using International Klein Blue.
Magical Consciousness is titled in reference to the work of philosopher Vilém Flusser, who suggested that there is more potential to touch reality in the act of looking itself rather than in what is actually being looked at or through using descriptive text, because of the latent potential of the viewer's imagination.
Related events
Sat 14 May, 2pm
Talk and book launch: Urbanomic/Robin MacKay: The Concept of Non-Photography
The Apparatus is a year-long project running throughout 2011, to mark Arnolfini's 50th anniversary. This series of exhibitions and events will focus on the conditions of the art world today, particularly its systems of belief and valuation, its role within society, and its relationship to the wider political economy. The Apparatus is about the ‘makings of' artists, of artworks, of institutions, and of a cultural infrastructure.
Magical Consciousness is funded by Mexican Foreign Ministry, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Polish Cultural Institute, OCA Norway.
Supported by Treasure Island Sweets, Bristol and the Trustees of the British Museum.
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Gillian Ayres
Gillian Ayres is considered one of the most important British painters working in the abstract style from the post-war period through to the present day, particularly noted for her wide variety of mark-making styles and use of rhythm and colour. Ayres exhibited at Arnolfini during its early days, and her painting Break-Off, 1961, painted the year Arnolfini was established, has been selected for this exhibition by Annabel Rees, co-founder of Arnolfini especially for our 50th anniversary programme. Break-off is presented alongside a new work that Ayres painted this year.
The Apparatus is a year-long project running throughout 2011, to mark Arnolfini's 50th anniversary. This series of exhibitions and events will focus on the conditions of the art world today, particularly its systems of belief and valuation, its role within society, and its relationship to the wider political economy. The Apparatus is about the ‘makings of' artists, of artworks, of institutions, and of a cultural infrastructure.
Image: Helena Almeida, Inhabited Painting 1976. (Detail) Courtesy Collection Môdulo-Centro Difusor de Arte
Press contact:
Sharon Tuttle T: 0117 9172316 E: sharon.tuttle@arnolfini.org.uk
Opening Thu 12 May 2011
Arnolfini
16 Narrow Quay - Bristol Gran Bretagna
Thu 12 May - Sun 3 July 11am - 6pm (exc Monday)