Thomas Zipp
dal 15/10/2008 al 14/11/2008
Segnalato da
15/10/2008
Thomas Zipp
Alison Jacques Gallery, London
Borrowing from the world image histories of science, religion and philosophy, Zipp takes an anarchic pleasure in playing the role of visionary, moralist, poet, and humourist. In his paintings, drawings, and sculptural works, different belief systems are deconstructed through formal investigation and experimentation.
"The pope tells me what to do. Painting kind of touches you, and sucks
you in, and opens you up to some new points. That's what drugs can do as
well" Thomas Zipp, 2007.
Following his critically acclaimed solo exhibition PLANET CARAVAN? IS THERE LIFE
AFTER DEATH? a FUTURISTIC WORLD FAIR at the South London Gallery in 2007, Alison
Jacques Gallery presents Thomas Zipp’s second exhibition with the gallery. For
WHITE DADA the artist will fill the main room with a large arena installation
complete with an organ and drums. This installation will also include a stone
sculpture of a male torso, a series of new drawings and large-scale paintings. The
opening night will feature a musical performance by Thomas Zipp and his band.
Borrowing from the world image histories of science, religion and philosophy, Zipp
takes an anarchic pleasure in playing the role of visionary, moralist, poet, and
humourist. In his paintings, drawings, and sculptural works, different belief
systems are deconstructed through formal investigation and experimentation. Zipp
frequently layers found imagery with painterly techniques, thereby engineering a
confrontation between the past and present.
Imbued with a gothic spiritualism and an underlying sense of nihilism the artist
takes an ambivalent stance on a number of recurring figures from German history
including Martin Luther, Otto Hahn (the chemist who discovered nuclear fission), and
the 16th Century astronomer Johannes Kepler. Zipp employs humour and irony to
reanimate these controversial intellectual geniuses, most of whom he reproduces as
distorted or defaced.
Using collage effects, Zipp’s protagonists are tipped into nightmarish realms
of insanity and intoxication. His mode of free association and metaphor allows a
mushroom cloud form to become a tree and a speech bubble outline to fuse into that
of a planet or pill. A Surrealist’s delight for word-play and combinations of
script with image provide further means through which to create his unique vision.
The fantastic possibilities that Zipp offers confound all logical explanation; a
response, perhaps, to what the artist considers being the non-readable nature of our
world.
Thomas Zipp (Born in Heppenheim, 1966) lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo museum
exhibitions include PLANET CARAVAN? IS THERE LIFE AFTER DEATH? a FUTURISTIC WORLD
FAIR, Museum Dhondt - Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium (2008) South London Gallery, London
(2007) and Kunsthalle Mannheim, Museum in der Alten Post, Muehlheim, catalogue
published, (2007); Achtung! Vision: Samoa, The Family of Pills & The Return of
the Subreals, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, catalogue published (2005). Group
museum exhibitions include: Sympathy for the Devil, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago (2007); Andre Butzer, Andreas Hofer, Thomas Zipp and more, Rubell
Family Collection, Miami /USA; Defamation of Character, PS1, New York (2006); Rings
of Saturn, Tate Modern, London (2006); Of Mice and
Men, 4th Berlin Biennale (2006). Thomas Zipp's forthcoming solo exhibition at
Sammlung Goetz, Munich will run from 15 June - 10 October, 2009 and will be
accompanied by a catalogue.
Tuesday 21 October, 6PM: Gallery talk by Kt Hammonds
Kit Hammonds is an independent curator based in London and a tutor on the MA
Curating Contemporary Art course at the Royal College of Art. From 2005-2008, he was
a curator at the South London Gallery where he worked with Thomas Zipp on his solo
exhibition.
Opening Thursday 16 October, 6-8pm
Alison Jacques Gallery
16-18 Berners Street - London
Free admission