Jamie Shovlin
dal 2/4/2009 al 28/5/2009
Segnalato da
2/4/2009
Jamie Shovlin
Haunch of Venison, Zurich
The evening redness in the west. On display a body of work woven around the disparity between reality and idealism whilst exploring the narratives and fictions that a nation projects into the world. In this three-part project, Shovlin posits a historical overview of the United States of America by filtering it through a variety of domestic and political media sources including his personal art historical canon and his parents' record collection.
With the solo exhibition 'The Evening Redness in the West' at Haunch of Venison Zurich British artist Jamie Shovlin (b. 1978) concludes a trilogy that began with 'A Dream Deferred', shown at Haunch of Venison London in 2007, and continued with 'The Ties that Bind', exhibited at 'Unosunove' in Rome in 2008. As with these previous incarnations, a wide variety of interrelated works form a cohesive body of work woven around the disparity between reality and idealism whilst exploring the narratives and fictions that a nation projects into the world.
In this three-part project, Shovlin posits a historical overview of the United States of America by filtering it through a variety of domestic and political media sources including his personal art historical canon and his parents' record collection, which consists of predominantly American music from the 1960s and '70s. Taking as its starting point a number of carefully chosen events from recent American history, the exhibition charts an era of dramatic change in both American and global politics, spanning from the depression of the 1930s to the present day. Shovlin's works draw attention to the marks made on society and the individual by a range of populist, political and cultural media, questioning how each has affected contemporary history in such a decisive way.
Constructed around a wide range of works in a variety of mediums, the exhibition collapses the domestic familiar with a dense web of global connections, national politics and international affairs. Large-sized paintings that appear to be
inflated record covers bearing the famous logos of Bruce Springsteen and the Carpenters carry the painterly impetus of Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. Neons, installations and sculptures are drawn together in an evocative chain of cause and effect, history and memory, examining the relationships between the specific personal experience and the historical record. An installation consisting of more than 40 works including drawings rendered from torn newspaper clippings of the last 20 years, watercolour homages to recent American masters and found objects, is contrasted with original 'Life' magazine images from 1947, forming an index to both 'The Evening Redness in the West' and the three-show project at large.
Jamie Shovlin's rigorous and rational language effortlessly combines conceptual complexity and playfulness with a wide-ranging use of textures and techniques in order to draw the viewer into an atmosphere rich in allusions and associations. 'The Evening Redness in the West' presents a narrative where the prevailing theme of ideological loss is contrasted with a sense of hopefulness that ideas and ideologies move in cycles - that mistakes may be repeated but there is always a chance for revival.
A new publication will accompany the exhibition and document the last part of this ambitious trilogy of exhibitions.
For further information please contact:
Silvia Lorenz, Haunch of Venison Zürich Tel: +41 (0) 43 422 88 88 or
e-mail: silvia.lorenz@haunchofvenison.com
Claire Walsh, Brunswick Group Tel: +44 20 7936 1296 or e-mail:
cwalsh@brunswickgroup.com
Haunch of Venison
Lessingstrasse 5 - Zurich
Free admission