Lisa Ivory, 'Double Dove', Ink on paper, 2007

sideSHOW

Exhibition Dates: 5th-28th September

Private View: Thursday 4th September 6pm - 9pm

Artists include:

David Ben White
Alex Gough
David Holland
Lisa Ivory
Lee Maelzer
Bethany Murray
Hyo Myoung Kim
Taryn Takahashi
Gabriela Talavera

Gallery Primo Alonso is delighted to present Sideshow. An exhibition of new work and collaborative projects by nine artists with widely differing practices. Sideshow examines the role of the artist as the many-faceted entertainer, be it freak, magician, daredevil or fortune teller, exploring the relationship between artist and audience and examining the complications implicit in this ‘them and us’ scenario.

While one section of the gallery will display the artist’s individual practices, the other will be given over as an experimental space for artistic dialogue. Here, working together for the first time, they will consider their roles as members of the sideshow. The nature of the collaboration, its final form and the ‘stage’ that it is presented on is an unknown quantity and will vary from one set of collaborators to the next, rotating weekly throughout the exhibition run for the delectation of the gallery visitor.

Lisa Ivory’s abject and pitiful aberrations will be paired with Lee Maelzer’s unsettling visions. David Holland, David Ben White and Gabriela Talavera’s practices promise to clash in a cacophony of flesh, structure and ridicule. Hyo Myong Kim and Taryn Takahashi will push their obsessive logics to a new level while Alex Gough and Bethany Murray grasp for the untouchable through their painting and photography.

David Ben White’s practice oscillates between abstraction and the figurative. In some works he paints geometric structures which reference cubist and modernist approaches in contrast to his gloopy impasto handling of the paintings surface. Characteristic globes bring to mind molecular bonds, or at the other extreme of the scale planetary constellations. In some cases these shapes become eye like and move the work in the direction of an eccentric portrait. In his series of wig paintings the connection to portraiture is more explicit, but even in these paintings Ben White’s subjects remain elusive. Their eyes closed, and features made anonymous by the thick paint our attention is focused on their absurd hairpieces.

Alex Gough's evocative paintings of the Finnish twilight, viewed through the stark forest canopy explore our experience of the sublime through the natural landscape. These paintings are no longer about just looking into the sky at dusk, but about being taken to a dreamy place of isolation. Gough's technique combines traditional and more modern approaches to the sublime, where intricate pattern meets true expression of colour. His new series of pinhole photographs develop the stark silhouettes of his painting work to examine themes of duality.

David Holland’s starting point is the raw physicality of meat and paint. Holland is primarily concerned with the materiality of his subject and that of the paint that he uses to capture it. Ultimately through this urge to understand the corporeal Holland’s work begins to look beyond it. His use of the paint makes the viewer uncomfortably and acutely aware of their own physical body.

Hyo Myoung Kim uses photography and digital techniques to re-present his subjects with the internal logic of his chosen medium. He is currently working with digital modelling techniques to construct 3 dimensional plane renderings of two dimensional objects using the hi tech to achieve a deceptively lo-fi effect. This paradox creates a trompe l’oeil that ultimately confounds the viewer.

Lisa Ivory depicts bizarre and macabre scenarios in which we witness the tragedies, nightmares or dramas of abject insects and hybrids creatures. These are so charged with a heartfelt intensity, that we do not observe them as dispassionate viewers, rather we experience a complex and unsettling mix of empathy, revulsion and pity.

Lee Maelzer's work depict uncanny scenarios painted with great skill. We assume that these are at first accurate representations of a place. Some ruined and derelict, some show traces of being inhabited. However something feels amiss and our initial assessment of these paintings as 'straight' observations is undermined by an unsettling out of place detail. Faces and figures can sometimes be discerned in foliage or rock work.

Bethany Murray’s work deals with the performative body in the landscape. The importance of place and personal experience is significant to her method of working. Placing herself in different locations and settings she seeks to engage the viewer in irresolvable narratives.

Taryn Takahashi works across different media such as photography, installation and works on paper which are concerned with the process in which objects and images are created. Her pieces often follow a labour intensive logic which she maintains obsessively through to conclusion. Be this in depicting a pencil through writing its serial numbers on its side until it is used up or creating a pantone accurate painting of a sheet of coloured card.

Gabriella Talavera’s work is performance based photography. Often utilising mundane everyday objects in relation to the body. Recent work has seen her involving the public as participants, coaxing her audience to become the subject and perform for her camera. The discussions that these interactions provoke are as much part of the work as the final images.

Taryn Takahashi , 'Full House ', Playing Cards , 2008

David Ben White , 'Sideshow Wig 1 in an atom installation', Mixed media installation, 2008

Lee Maelzer , 'Yo Abyss', Oil on canvas, 2008

Alex Gough , 'Yksin Metsassa', Oil on canvas, 2008

David Holland , 'Hurt, agony, pain, love-it, pride', Oil on canvas, 2008

Bethnay Murray , (left) 'Re-sited Corner', (centre) 'Wood I', (right) 'Re-sited Field', Lambda Photographs, 2008

Hyo Myoung Kim & Taryn Takahashi - .......................11th - 14th September

David Ben White, David Holland

& Gabriela Talavera-......................................................................18th - 21st September

Lisa Ivory & Lee Maelzer -.........................................................25th - 28th September