Marcos Chaves
dal 10/10/2008 al 14/11/2008
Segnalato da
10/10/2008
Marcos Chaves
Butchers's, London
Laughing Mask shows a disembodied head floating in the middle of a black screen. A latex carnival mask the artist bought in Rio de Janeiro covers the face from just below the eyes. It is dominated by a grotesquely over-sized mouth, fixed in a horrifying smile, which reveals two banks of yellow teeth.
Butcher's is proud to present Marcos
Chaves's first exhibition in England with the presentation of his video
Laughing Mask (2005). Laughing Mask shows a disembodied head floating in
the middle of a black screen. A latex carnival mask the artist bought in
Rio de Janeiro covers the face from just below the eyes. It is dominated
by a grotesquely over-sized mouth, fixed in a horrifying smile, which
reveals two banks of yellow teeth. Completely uniform in size and
distribution, they resemble an open zip or the cogs of an industrial
machine. The uncanny ivories grow directly out of the lips, whose blood
red hue is in stark contrast to the powder white pallor of the mask,
giving it the character of a Hogarthian harlot or spectacular ethnographic
artefact. Laughing Mask is part of a series of three self-portrait mask
videos by Chaves.
Each questions the boundaries between the 'reality' of
the artist as person / persona and the 'fiction' of the artwork, keeping
both perceptions in play simultaneously. As with the most unnerving
comedy, there is no laughter soundtrack – viewers are left to decide for
themselves in which of the ambiguities to place their trust. At Butcher's
artwork is visible from the street 24 hours a day. Multiple audiences
interact with the same space while viewing Laughing Mask, a work that
oscillates between entertaining and disturbing. Humour is often a relief
from anxiety and in this way Laughing Mask acts as a release valve for the
daily pressures we experience while walking in an urban environment.
During the day, when the atmosphere in this part of Camden is primarily
residential, the work may suggest a perverse take on family entertainment,
while after dark it conjures the inebriated excesses of Camden's
nightlife.
With the exhibition period spanning the alarming conjunction of
Halloween in October and the US Presidential elections in November,
Laughing Mask reveals that 'Humour,' as Chaves remarks, 'has a political
attitude.' ABOUT THE ARTIST: Marcos Chaves was born in Rio de Janeiro in
1961 and began his practice in the early 1980s. His work is characterized
by the use of diverse media and openly moves between the production of
objects, photographs, videos, drawings, words and sounds. Chaves has
participated in individual and group exhibitions in Brazil and
internationally such as Manifesta 7; the 4th Biennial of Havana; the 25th
International Biennial of Sao Paulo; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; NKB, Berlin;
and Espace Topografie de l'Art, Paris. He is represented by Nara Roesler
Gallery, Sao Paulo.
Opening: Saturday, 11 October, 6-8pm
Butchers's
183 Royal College Street - London