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10/11/2003

Jeff Burton

Sadie Coles HQ (old location), London

Sun, swimming pools, neon and sequins, sex, tanned and toned bodies - the stuff of Hollywood dreams is Jeff Burton's territory. Starting out as a stills photographer on the sets of adult movies, Burton has shown the underbelly of the Californian film world, dwelling on subjects that normally only come to light in one of two types of documentary - the earnest or the sensationalist. Burton, on the other hand, declines the exposé approach. In two steps, he first elevates the seedy, applying to it the slick gloss, the same sexiness, that is conferred upon the carefully mediated, official face of Hollywood. And from there, he moves on, broadening or rather redefining his frame of reference, where composition becomes a primary concern and with it the parameters set by art history.
In his photographs Burton goes, almost without exception, for the unexpected angle. He shows only the socked feet of entwined couples, while others are betrayed by glimpses of their reflections in mirrors. In this new body of work, unknown, anonymous characters are caught in the most intimate acts. A reclining woman has had the letter L shaved into her pubic hair. We can only guess by whom and for what reason; a straightforward L for love or perhaps the name of her lover? The narrative trails to another image, which shows a bowl of fresh razors. Swimming pools and abandoned sun loungers are at once the sets and the whole story; in one a sequinned curtain hangs, reflected in the water, a piece of discarded clothing lies on the side, hinting at a party now over or out of frame action. The wholesome, all-American sport of basketball is given a sexual twist, as one of two women clad in vertiginously high heels and skin tight, micro mini dresses, prepares to launch a basketball, bending over to reveal her bare bottom.

In Jeff Burton's Dreamland, Dave Hickey observes in his catalogue essay that, in denying us access to the narrative, which is invariably played out beyond the image, Burton contrives, paradoxically, to show us more. Hickey defines it as x{2018}a language of looking while 'looking away''. Little is left to the imagination, but nonetheless it is left. And significantly so, for like this, Burton coerces the viewer into picturing what lies beyond the frame and appropriating these Hollywood fantasies.

private view: Tues 11 Nov 6-8pm

Jeff Burton lives and work in Los Angeles. This is his third show with Sadie Coles HQ. He has had solo shows in the U.S and Europe and been included in many group shows, including The Americans at the Barbican (2001)

For press and further information please contact Sara Harrison 020 7434 2227

SADIE COLES HQ
35 Heddon Street W1B 4BP
London

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