Simona Brinkmann
Ami Clarke
Cameron Irving
Jackson Webb
Matt Lippiatt
George Henry Longly
Chris McCormack
Terence McCormack
Sarah Raine
Natasha Rees
Chris Shaw
Matthew Smith
Charlotte Thrane
Terence MacCormack
7/6/2007
Days Of The Commune
Stockwell Studios, London
The title of the exhibition is derived from the last original play written by Bertolt Brecht, a chronicle of the last days of the declining Paris Commune under siege. By speculating on its ideas, the show involves artists whose work is engaged with sculpture and object making as a way to possibly re-encounter histories of live and temporal based artworks. Curated by Terence MacCormack.
Group show
Curated by: Terence MacCormack
Artists: Simona Brinkmann, Ami Clarke, Cameron Irving, Jackson Webb, Matt Lippiatt, George Henry Longly, Chris McCormack, Terence McCormack, Sarah Raine, Natasha Rees, Chris Shaw, Matthew Smith, Charlotte Thrane.
'Days of The Commune' aims to consider meanings associated with that of a gallery, that of a studio, and of Stockwell Studios annual opening. The working and delivery of the artworks selected and made for this exhibition suggest tendencies more commonly found in the studio – one of trial and error, with its corollary the point of completion.
This is emphasised by this exhibitions location in the grounds of a studio building, which houses a grouping of people from diverse practices and backgrounds. A situation that seems suggestive of communes and their freewheeling histories. Such places traditionally acted as a way of distancing oneself from society at large.
Though out of these legacies, a possible reconnection can be drawn from the proliferation of media and documentation – specifically the 'happenings' of Allan Kaprow or Claes Oldenburg, whose working methods were closer to that of a living room or possible classroom, existing as much, or more so, via myriad retellings, rumours, and photography, as by any possible lived encounter. These short time frames seem to summon up and to allow a possibility to speculate on the role of the 'event' as gallery, this finds an active debate in 'Days Of The Commune', an exhibition that lasts no more than 3 days.
The title of the exhibition is derived from the last original play written by Bertolt Brecht. Set during the end of the Prussian war, this rarely performed play chronicles the last days of the declining Paris Commune under siege. Aided by the liberal bourgeois' ambivalence, (the play's title alone suggesting that the days are indeed limited) a sense of apathy runs through the play's structure from the start. Used freely within the context of this exhibition the titling attempts to bring to the fore the complicated engagements with the commune - in its handling of historical and canonising fragments.
By speculating on these ideas, the exhibition will primarily involve artists whose work is engaged with sculpture and object making as a way to possibly re-encounter histories of live and temporal based artworks. Rethinking what is withheld or absent in acts of making sets up a questioning as to its motive, and to the eventual engagements of a shared, or wider understanding. How a contemporary generation of artists perceive and use this 'documented' landscape set up and shape the undertaking of the exhibition.
For further details:
Tel: 079635 70121
e-mail: daysofthecommune@hotmail.co.uk
Stockwell Studios
Jeffreys Road - London