The Aesthetics of Anxiety September 1 - October 7, 2007
MARCdePUECHREDON is pleased to present 'The Aesthetics of Anxiety' a group show curated around the ideas of the Uncanny. Work which taps into our most repressed anxieties, reflecting the underlying apprehension current in today's climate. The fearfulness of a society seemingly spiralling out of control, contending with war, decay, inclusionexclusion, religion, science, “the other”, crime, disease, terrorism, and natural disaster.
The work in the exhibition contains equal measures of beauty and unease, exploring the more repressed fears and darker-elements of the human psyche, unveiling both our physical and emotional reactions to them. Loaded with interpretations the uncertainty and ambiguity of the work leads us to draw many conclusions, leaving us with a sense of having encountered equal amounts of pleasure and displeasure.
Davide Balliano's (Italy/USA) multi faceted work portrays an unnerving ambiguity, it tells only a part of a dark and twisted tale in which we are left to fill in the gaps.
Margrét H Blöndal (Iceland) works with a variety of found materials using for example a mattress, foam and cloth disregarding their original purpose then used in combination with harsh or playful elements creating an uneasy coupling.
The work of Simona Brinkmann (Italy) uses the luxuriousness of black leather to produce sandbags, which she uses to create interventions, restricting the space within the gallery gesturing towards a sense of entrapment.
Gordon Cheung's (UK) seductive Technicolor landscapes depict what appears to be a post apocalyptic vision of the world luring one into its endless horizons giving ourselves over to that dangerous beauty and embracing it.
Rachel Goodyear (UK) creates intricate renderings of what appear at first to be sweet vignettes yet on closer observation one uncovers various traumatic situations.
Monica Ursina Jäger's (Swiss) intricate drawings and paintings in ink on paper and MDF, deal with various political issues such as private ownership of our environment amongst others.
Vinca Petersen (UK) documents the seemingly unspectacular goings on of a travellers community however, each of these images seem to reveal so much more about life, its frailty and uncertainty.
Andreas Hagenbach (Swiss) appears to be able to stumble upon the most loaded of juxtapositions, sublimated by society to such an extent that when highlighted by him they appear unworldly and surreal. Finally
Will Ryman (USA) uses papier-mache to create large oversized figures with elongated limbs, which loom over the viewer like a tragic monster from a horror movie demanding our sympathy yet eliciting fear.
Opening times Thursday - Saturday 2-8pm
For further information and images please contact Clare Kenny 0041 79 322 3969 / office at puechredon.com
