David Birkin
Rut Blees Luxemburg
Jose Maria Cano
Oliver Clegg
Tobias Collier
Shezad Dawood
Tessa Farmer
Nadine Feinson
James P Graham
Alex Hamilton
Henry Hemming
Gerry Judah
Annie Kevans
Tatsuya Kimata
Liane Lang
Wolfe Lenkiewicz
Peter Lewis
Alastair Mackie
Goshka Macuga
Emma McNally
Seboo Migone
Polly Morgan
Orlando Mostyn-Owen
Benedetto Pietromarchi
Ilona Sagar
Hilary Koob-Sassen
Petroc Sesti
Conrad Shawcross
Jason Shulman
Valerie Stahl von Stromberg
Louise Stern
Amikam Toren
Takayuki Yamamoto
Wolfe Lenkiewicz
Flora Fairbairn
Painting, sculpture, photography, drawing and installation by some 30 artists
Group show
Avatar of Sacred Discontent, opening at 9 Hillgate, is an exhibition of painting, sculpture, photography, drawing and installation by some 30 artists that explores and exposes the darker side of human nature. The works featured are infused with unsettling and ominous undertones. Themes explored range from the human psyche and man’s self-destructive tendencies to the tumultuous political climate in which we live.
Being microcosms of a larger world, we are the very incarnations, or Avatars, of a sacred discontent that seems inherent in contemporary society. Whilst wealth divides those who can afford from those who can’t, the very nature of our society provokes consumerist addiction.
Initially inspired by Fritz Lang’s film, Doctor Mabuse (a name that derives from the French word ‘m’abuse’), Avatar of Sacred Discontent confronts its audience with issues that most would prefer to ignore.
Highlights from the exhibition include Gerry Judah’s magnificent and apocalyptic 3-D painting that explores the visual, emotional and physical effects of conflict in epic miniature; Alastair Mackie’s cloying sculpture of the human heart moulded out of the components of a wasp’s nest: wood pulp and wasp spit; Annie Kevans’ masterful and haunting portrait of Nicolae Ceausescu that revisits her much-acclaimed series ‘Boys’, where evil world leaders are depicted as children; Tessa Farmer’s intricate, gothic installation of fairy-like creatures fashioned painstakingly from insect wings and tree roots which hover carnivorously around a dead sparrow; Polly Morgan’s taxidermied chick is tucked up delicately and tragically limp in a matchbox that makes for both a bed and a coffin for ‘la petite’.
Artists:
David Birkin, Rut Blees Luxemburg, Jose Maria Cano, Oliver Clegg, Tobias Collier, Shezad Dawood, Tessa Farmer, Nadine Feinson, James P Graham, Alex Hamilton, Henry Hemming, Gerry Judah, Annie Kevans, Tatsuya Kimata, Liane Lang, Wolfe Lenkiewicz, Peter Lewis, Alastair Mackie, Goshka Macuga, Emma McNally, Seboo Migone, Polly Morgan, Orlando Mostyn-Owen, Benedetto Pietromarchi, Ilona Sagar, Hilary Koob-Sassen, Petroc Sesti, Conrad Shawcross, Jason Shulman, Valerie Stahl von Stromberg, Louise Stern, Amikam Toren and Takayuki Yamamoto
For further information please contact:
Rowena Chiu (Exhibition Organiser) rowenachiuarts@gmail.com
Wolfe Lenkiewicz +44(0)7903 876 522 / Lisa K Samoto at lisa@t12artspace.com
Flora Fairbairn +44(0)7971 572 105
9 Hillgate is a unique collaboration between art and architecture and is the first in a series of temporary
arts venues, utilising the opportunity created by development in transition.
Private View: Thursday 20th September 2007, 6-9 pm
9 Hillgate
9 Hillgate Street, Notting Hill Gate, London W8 7SP
11-6pm (Wed - Sat only)
free admission