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| Tim Phillips, 2011 |
Some of the world’s greatest advances in technology have been developed to alleviate the stresses of everyday life. Who would have thought that these modern advances could lead to greater frustrations? The desire to streamline processes has seemingly led to more aggravation due to overcrowding, bureaucracy and information overload. Coming to London’s
Sumarria Lunn Gallery in September,
Modern Frustrations is an exhibition that brings together the work of
Tim Phillips,
Ross Jones,
littlewhitehead and
Blue Curry in four different explorations of this theme.
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| Ross Jones, I.E.D |
Ross Jones’ work is interested in information overload and media bias. Each one of Jones’ drawing if of a different political issue currently covered in global media. Instead of creating a literal drawing of the issue, the subject is placed in a large white space, free of colour, logos, and people, to create a symbol of the problem. For example,
I.E.D. (pictured above) depicts several seemingly unrelated items arranged in a still life form. When properly assembled all of the components create an improvised explosive device. Made familiar by the news, the potential bomb appears eerily passive when presented in this way, yet the obscured simplicity of its production is made clear.
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| Blue Curry, 2011 |
Due to a life split between London and The Bahamas,
Blue Curry’s sculptural installations fuse many 'tropical' and ‘urban’ materials to create works which suggest both personal and cultural frustrations. Much of Curry’s works are influenced by his Caribbean background converging with his experiences living in London. Sculptures such as the work above, a car tire covered with a mosaic of thousands of black and white beans resembling snakeskin souvenirs in tourist markets, hint at frustrations with the effects of tourism and the false perception of life in paradise.
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| Tim Phillips, 2011 |
Tim Phillips explores the idea that the modern population has been gradually forced to relinquished control over many parts of our lives. Those in power are now in control of everything from politics to our finances and communication. He identifies the materials, colours and shapes that convey and help legitimise the control or dominance of institutions, organisations and individuals. Stripped of unique identifications such as corporate logos, religious imagery and cult symbols, his works mix the different visual languages that form a barrier between us and those in control while naturalising that position.
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| littlewhitehead, The Philanthropist |
Glaswegian artist duo
littlewhitehead are well known for their irreverent views of modern society. Adding to their repertoire of destructive processes such as deep fat frying and burning, a new wall-based work will be created especially for the exhibition using highly dangerous acidic fumes. Alongside
The Philanthropist (pictured above), the ‘painting’ highlights society’s frustrations with effects of unseen chemicals, from industrial waste to radiation. Just as the work makes visible the effect of an unseen danger, there is a dark humour at work here as the artists poke fun at our fear of the ‘invisible threat’. While life is full of many real dangers that lie beyond one’s perception, much of our frustration is found in what were are told is threatening us, which we are most often powerless to prevent.
Modern Frustrations will be on display from September 8th -30th and will include new work by each artist.
