Damien Roach
dal 8/2/2006 al 18/3/2006
Segnalato da
8/2/2006
Damien Roach
Gasworks Gallery, London
The deepness of puddles. Video, drawing, sculpture, installation, painting and audio works. Roach’s work scrutinises the value systems that we use to make sense of the world around us. Much of the work involves the manipulation of found images and objects, situating a counter-cultural sensibility alongside a more traditionally orientated one.
The deepness of puddles
Gasworks opens its programme in 2006 with the first solo exhibition in the UK of
emerging London-based artist Damien Roach.
Damien Roach’s work is immediately unassuming yet reveals itself as curiously
inventive. Possessing a formal simplicity and playfulness, Roach’s work scrutinises
the value systems that we use to make sense of the world around us. To date, these
investigations have centred on the mutability of perception within commonplace
experiences, which are normally considered devoid of any revelatory potential. His
painted objects, for example, initially appear to be discarded or reclaimed board or
furniture, weathered and worn by time. However, on closer inspection of the
scratches and scrapes, delicate and intricate vistas of nature slowly emerge.
Roach’s work takes many forms, incorporating video, drawing, sculpture,
installation, painting and audio works. Much of the work involves the manipulation
of found images and objects, situating a counter-cultural sensibility alongside a
more traditionally orientated one. Furthering his investigation into alternative
forms of worldly perception, The deepness of puddles will examine and reconfigure
outmoded ideologies and cultural artefacts from the modern era, offering
propositions for a latent escapism through the most economical of means.
Referencing a range of sources including 60s psychedelia, cognitive psychology and
the work of free jazz pioneers such as Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, Roach looks
towards these distinctive outlooks to determine ways of unlocking unseen potential
for our comprehension of the world.
Consisting entirely of a brand new body of work, the exhibition will configure all
the elements of Roach’s practice, including the production of a publication designed
by the artist and a limited-edition audio CD under the moniker patten. Roach’s
exhibition will create an experiential setting for visitors who will encounter works
varying in scale, form and impact, and will bring to light the highly imaginative
system of transferable associations within his practice.
Damien Roach has begun to exhibit extensively in Britain and internationally. Recent
solo exhibitions include: Damien Roach, Sies & Hoke, Dusseldorf, 2005; and The other
day, yesterday, today, tomorrow, Schnittraum, Cologne, 2005. Recent group
exhibitions include: Ordering the Ordinary, Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, 2005;
Swansong/Centre of Attention, as part of Always a Little Further, 51st Venice
Biennale, 2005; The Mind is a Horse Part 2, Bloomberg SPACE, 2005; and Art Now:
Lightbox, Tate Britain, 2005.
This exhibition has been made possible with generous support from the Henry Moore
Foundation.
Preview: 9 February, 7 - 9pm
Gasworks
155 Vauxhall Street - London
T:+44 (0)20 7582 6848
F:+44 (0)20 7582 0159
Tube: Vauxhall/Oval
Bus: 2, 36, 88, 133, 436
Gasworks is open Wednesday - Sunday 12-6pm. Admission is free.
Gasworks has full wheelchair access