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g39: simon holly - the typin point - 29 Nov 2008 to 17 Jan 2009 Current Exhibition |
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simon holly the typin point Preview: 28th November, 6.30-9pm Open: 29th November � 17th January NB: The gallery is closed between 21st December & 6th January g39 Wyndham Arcade, Mill Lane CARDIFF CF10 1FH A grid system underpins the collage work of Simon Holly. Glossy low-culture posters are deconstructed and meticulously re-assembled, transformed and subverted. Square by square, a poster of a tropical idyll is re-ordered as a symmetrical pattern, a motorcycle becomes a bowl of cherries, Marylin Monroe, an icon of feminine sexuality is reconfigured into Mohammed Ali, the ultimate fighting machine and vice versa. Simon�s work deals with this shift of information. For the show at g39 Simon explores the vast wealth of images available to us through various sources. He tests the �quality�, hierarchy and availability of images, and notions of their similarity, distinction and authenticity. Part of his practice is a negotiation and filtering of imagery in an attempt to find something of value or interest. He is interested in the issue of cloning, the process of sampling, taking a mass of structural information and placing it within a new construction. Working with pixel sized pieces of information he is interested in how they become signifiers only when placed alongside like or unlike information. Every image I work with is translated through the grid system, an analogy to the pixels of digital images. A grid, by its nature, is uniform and non-hieratical. I am drawn towards quite specific types of image. They are often flat and not spatial, blank and everyday and convey their form through standardised colours that we are familiar with. Being free of any complicated cultural baggage, they are more able to transcend their original form when I put them through the translating process. When I look at these images, and the other images I like but never use, I always view them as a very real material. Beginning with me as an image filter, through an objective process that reveal subjective decisions made within it, to the final piece of work that transcends its original state, I want to make art that allows the viewer to break down and look at the image as I once did. Simon is a technology native. Just a generation before him viewed the world as rolling atoms, through dotted halftone or in the random grain of the photograph; Simon sees the world in terms of stacked and ordered pixels, grids translate source material and they are democratic and fixed; no individual square relays more essential information of the image as a whole than any other. His work is about the viewer reading and understanding a mass of ordered information, how the images break down into their constituent parts as you get physically closer and start to understand the order of information. It is only when viewed in its entirety that an image �makes sense� � and that sense is mutable and shifting. Notes for editors: Simon Holly: b.1979, Rhoose, South Wales, Currently lives and works in Manchester. Alongside his practice Simon was an active part of the artscene in Cardiff before re-locating recently. He is also a writer, having contributed to publications by ffotogallery and a regular reviewer for AN magazine. Simon showed with g39 in 2004 as part of �Flim Flam� a group show. g39 is an artist-led organisation based in Cardiff. Established in 1998 it undertakes significant work in supporting emerging visual artists in Wales and acts as a conduit for the introduction of interesting work from further afield. It runs a programme of exhibitions from its permanent city centre gallery alongside projects at temporary offsite venues. g39 works closely with artists, curators, writers and arts organisations; its activities are strategically aimed at creating a network of support and advocacy for artists within Wales while positioning its work firmly in an international context. g39 Wyndham Arcade, Mill Lane CARDIFF CF10 1FH www.g39.org +44(0)29 2025 5541 |
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