For this exhibition, Salavon will exhibit a video triptych entitled The Late Night Triad. Between February and August of 2003, he recorded hundreds of hours of footage of the three major US late night talk shows: David Letterman, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. Focusing on the introduction and monologue, when the host occupies the screen full-frame, he selected 64 nights worth of material for each show, aligned and averaged them to produce a triptych of 3 video projections with soundtrack, presenting an amalgamation of late night monologues which reveal the ghosts of repetitious structure and nightly activity.
THE LATE NIGHT TRIAD
f a projects is pleased to announce Jason Salavon's first solo exhibition in the
UK.
Based in Chicago, where he studied at the School of The Art Institute, Jason
Salavon has been working in digital media for the past ten years. He is now is
one of the leading artists in the field internationally. Typically, he uses
custom software to generate video and photographic works that amalgamate large
quantities of image data to form a single shifting mean.
For this exhibition, Salavon will exhibit a video triptych entitled The Late
Night Triad. Between February and August of 2003, he recorded hundreds of hours
of footage of the three major US late night talk shows: David Letterman, Jay
Leno and Conan O'Brien. Focusing on the introduction and monologue, when the
host occupies the screen full-frame, he selected 64 nights worth of material for
each show, aligned and averaged them to produce a triptych of 3 video
projections with soundtrack, presenting an amalgamation of late night monologues
which reveal the ghosts of repetitious structure and nightly activity.
Alongside this piece, Salavon will be showing photographic work from a new
series entitled 100 Special Moments. Like his video works, Salavon's
photographic prints amalgamate and average out groups of images which share a
common subject and formal structure. In the past those groups have included
Every Playboy Centrefold (2002), from which he produced one single composite
image from each decade of the magazine's history, or Homes for Sale (1999, 2001,
2002), a series which uses realtor photographs as its source. These works reveal
the conventions of composition which apply to each class of image, and embrace
their subjects origin in and adherence to the demands of popular culture.
100 Special Moments continues this investigation into generic types of
portraiture through everyday subjects, typically the preserve of the
professional commercial photographer: the wedding photograph, the graduation
photograph and children having their photograph taken with Santa. Through
amalgamating a large number of photographs of each subject, the artist examines
patterns and trends within the group and exposes different readings and rhythms.
This exhibition juxtaposes the Late Night Triad, which deals with one of the
most vocal media of popular culture in the US with the universal iconography of
the middle-American rite of passage in an examination of these normalising forms
of popular representation.
Jason Salavon studied at the University of Texas at Austin and the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago, where he now lives and works. He has exhibited widely
internationally, including exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los
Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and BitStreams: Art in the Digital
Age, Whitney Museum of Art, New York. Upcoming exhibitions including solo
exhibitions at The Project, Los Angeles and Earl Lu Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College
of Arts, Singapore and upcoming group exhibitions include Seattle Art Museum,
Seattle and Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas.
Jason Salavon's work is in public and private collections internationally,
including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary
Art, Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles and Phillip Morris
Corporation, New York.
Private view Thursday 13 May 6.30 - 8.30 pm
For further information and for images, please contact the gallery on + 44 (0)
20 7928 3228.
Gallery open Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 6 pm and Saturday 12 pm - 5 pm
f a projects 1-2 Bear Gardens London SE1 9ED UK
t. + 44 (0) 20 7928 3228 f. + 44 (0) 20 7928 5123