Neil Cummings
Annika Eriksson
Dirk Fleischmann
Michele di Menna
Chris Evans
Liam Gillick
San Keller
Hassan Khan
Natascha Sadr Haghighian
Marion von Osten
Anup Mathew Thomas
Nav Haq
Tirdad Zolghadr
Class Hegemony in Contemporary Art
Including Neil Cummings, Annika Eriksson, Dirk Fleischmann/Michele di Menna, Chris Evans, Liam Gillick, San Keller, Hassan Khan, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Marion von Osten and Anup Mathew Thomas
Curated by Nav Haq, Exhibition Curator, Arnolfini and Tirdad Zolghadr.
To what extent does class play a role in the production and dissemination of contemporary art? Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie investigates the latent issue of class underlying the field of contemporary visual art. The project is an open question, an invitation to a discussion long overdue, and does not offer foregone conclusions or rigid hypotheses other than the relevance of the conversation itself.
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie will present a collaborative project with a number of practitioners that scrutinise their own positions, bias and gaze within the hierarchy of cultural production. It will seek to identify the impact class has in the field - from artists, through to curators, institutions, audiences and decision makers in mainstream art. The exhibition will contain work in various media, including photography, texts, performance, video and sculpture.
To accompany the exhibition Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie there is a series of events, talks, tours and film screenings during May.
Each film screening will be preceded by two commissioned trailers: The Freedom of Negative Expression by Chris Evans and Lapdogs by Neil Cummings.
Supported by the Goethe Institut, the Swiss Cultural fund in Britain and pro helvetia (Swiss Arts Council).
Arnolfini is a contemporary arts organistion in Bristol that attracts half a million visits a year.
Press Contacts
Sharon Tuttle T: 0117 9172316 E: sharon.tuttle@arnolfini.org.uk
There is a free discussion event initiated by Annika Eriksson We are not who you think we are / who can afford to be an art worker on Fri 1 May, 5pm - 6pm before the exhibition preview.
Arnolfini
16 Narrow Quay Bristol BS1 4QA
Hours: 10am - 6pm (Closed Mondays, except Bank Holidays)
Free