Versus
dal 6/4/2002 al 7/5/2002
Segnalato da
6/4/2002
Versus
The Centre of Attention, London
Relentless and as unforgiving as the Pop Idol series, the Versus exhibition continues at the Centre of Attention with the opening of its second instalment: Tai Shani vs Kristian Hornsleth.
Relentless and as unforgiving as the Pop Idol series, the VERSUS exhibition
continues at the Centre of Attention with the opening of its second
instalment: Tai Shani vs Kristian Hornsleth
Exhibition running to 7th April, Thursdays to Sundays, 2 to 7 p.m.
15 Cottons Gardens, London E2 8DN (tube: Old Street)
Both artists came to art from a very different background: fashion and
business; and for both, this results in a controversial approach which
mixes openness with cynicism and ambiguity.
Kristian Hornsleth studied business and art in Copenhagen where he works
and lives. He has shown extensively across Europe and has a solo show next
month at the Baumgartner Gallery, New York.
"Selected posters, large photocopies and other readymade materials are
mounted on the canvas as contextual background. Most of the work has been
brutally cut and heavily scratched with sharp objects. The concept was from
the beginning to combine an extreme subjective Rorschackian drive for
painting itself with a conceptual idea to adapt an over visible brand
identity.
The paintings are mostly heavy expressionistic overkillish as well as
sensational and statement oriented. With time this style has proven itself
to have a market to "well-off, young, self-confident business types who
normally think that art is fucking boring". Some buyers and gallerists
complained a little about the branding in the form of a huge Hornsleth
signature which covered up to a third of the painting, but this proved not
to be a problem of the consumer interest."
Tai Shani is a young artist who studied fashion design and fashion
photography in New York and Tel Aviv where she has worked for major style
magazines. She exhibited at the Haifa Museum, at the Haus am Lützowplatz
and at Novalog, Berlin. In 2001, she had a solo show: "Axl Rose you rock my
world" at the Tal Esther Gallery, Tel-Aviv. She recently moved to London.
Tai Shani's videos, photographs and installations reflect the construction
of gender. They especially examine how a young body becomes sexed. They do
not only recreate the female body from the viewpoint of "to-be-looked-at",
but they also exemplify the deformation of body and identity resulting from
this perspective. They underline the power fashion has in defining youth,
beauty.
The Centre of Attention
15 Cotton's Gardens, Shoreditch, E2 8DN London
T 02077290699