calendario eventi  :: 

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1/2/2010

Two exhibitions

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva
On the Movement of the Fried Egg and Other Astronomical Bodies

Portuguese artists João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva have worked together since 2001, creating objects, installations and short films which they describe as ‘poetic philosophical fiction’. Ikon’s exhibition focuses purely on their short 16mm films, featuring those made recently in Brazil alongside a selection from the last five years.

Gusmão and Paiva’s work reveals a deep curiosity about the nature of reality and embodies a constant dialogue between fact and fiction, humour and poetry. They are infuenced by a wide range of references including historical literature, mythology and the occult, informing their own pseudo-scientifc investigations.

Gusmão and Paiva’s films typically evoke scientific studies, set in sparse, unidentifiable landscapes or darkened studio environments. Always silent, they cast a variety of curious characters in scenarios that allude to intellectual and esoteric texts. The artists cite Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa as a key inspiration for them. Pessoa did not write as himself, rather he created a string of ‘heteronyms’, fully formed characters or pseudonyms, each with a distinct world view. Through these Pessoa conveyed ideas that were often contradictory.
Following him, Gusmão and Paiva describe their work as ‘poetic philosophical fiction’, making beautiful dream-like films that suggest a number of philosophical approaches to the world that cannot be reconciled.
Like the poet they revel in the creative energy that engenders such ideas, expressed with humour and a sense of wonder in their work. The commonplace becomes extraordinary, even hallucinatory, as we move through darkened space to encounter colour-saturated films literally as revelations.

The artists’ films reflect ongoing preoccupations such as vision and blindness, metaphysics, the void and infinity. Works such as The Great Drinking Bout (2007) involve an unidentifed cast of characters who enact anarchic rituals, while other films are unpopulated, often focusing on the nature of objects and materials. In Experiment on the Effluvium (2009) the use of slow-motion creates a dream-like quality. A stone skims across the surface of a body of water in a scene reminiscent of a mythological planetary event. Meanwhile in Astronomy Of The End Of The Boot (2009) a man observes the sky through a hole in his shoe. Against a background of profound thinking Gusmão and Paiva’s carefully crafted films exude a playful inventiveness that makes us look again.

A catalogue accompanies the exhibition, priced £7, special exhibition price £5 (only available in person at Ikon). Visit Ikon’s online shop for the full range of Ikon catalogues and limited editions.

João Maria Gusmão and Pedro Paiva’s exhibition is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

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Clare Rojas
We They, We They

Ikon presents the first UK museum exhibition by American artist Clare Rojas. Best known for her folk-inspired work, Rojas uses a wide range of media, including painting, installation and print-making, with a smart sense of humour, to make observations on gender relations and representation.

Characteristically made using flat blocks of colour, betraying her origins as a printmaker, Rojas’ paintings are filled with subjects and iconography from fables and tales. Narratives are woven throughout; works such as Sun Poppies (2009) provide a romantic view of her female characters in the natural world, in contrast to the darker undertones of Ladies Bleeding to the Sky (2009).

Ikon’s exhibition comprises much new work and marks a recent shift in Rojas’ practice. Flower and Chair and Red Hooded Man and Baby Star (both 2009) show domestic interiors either devoid of inhabitants or occupied by a lone figure. Architecture and people morph into increasingly abstracted conglomerations of pattern while evoking a range of symbolic associations. Similarly Rojas’ paintings act as components in larger installations, the walls of the gallery covered by a patchwork of painted panels akin to quilting, or hung in rows from peg rails. These assemblages combine to recall references from West Coast Modernism to Native American or Latino craft,
outsider art and street graffiti.

Rojas’ work is also displayed in Ikon’s Tower Room where paintings on antique banjos bring together her musical and literary interests. This exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, San Francisco.

To accompany the exhibition, Ikon has published a new children’s storybook, titled Pidgy, written and illustrated by Rojas, priced £12, special exhibition
price £8 (only available in person at Ikon). Rojas has also made a limited edition, a series of 30 unique small-scale paintings on calico, priced £100, with proceeds going to support the women’s group at the Ladywood Project, Ladywood Community and Health Centre.

Peggy Honeywell Performs
Tuesday 2 February, 8.15pm – free
Clare Rojas performs songs taken from her folk albums Green Mountain, Faint Humms and Honey For Dinner released under the name of her
alter-ego Peggy Honeywell. No need to book. CDs will be available during the exhibition.

Image: João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva. 3 Suns, 2009 16mm film, colour, no sound, 0’50’’

For more information and images please contact Ikon’s Press and PR Officer, Anna Pike on T: 0121 248 0708 F: 0121 2480709 E: a.pike@ikon-gallery.co.uk

Opening of the two new exhibitions on Tuesday 2 February between 6 and 8pm. Free

Ikon Gallery
1 Oozells Square Brindleyplace Birmingham B1 2HS
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 11am - 6pm.
Free entry

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