Exhibition runs from September 9 to October 7, 2011
A Gazelli Art House exhibition at Rochelle School, Arnold Circus, London E2 7ES
Air I Breathe completes the circle of our exploration of the classical elements prior to ‘Bodhi’ (enlightenment) in November. Air I Breathe celebrates the contradictory nature of this most divine and pure substance; seen as both superficial and representing the intelligence of the soul, air was also believed to own the twin properties of heat and
moisture in ancient Greek medicine and was associated with blood as one of natures ‘humours’.
Air I Breathe is a unique and exciting opportunity to see the ambitious work of four diverse young artists whose work unfolds and plays with the freedom of installation based sculpture. At turns provocative and simply beautiful, Air I Breathe will be a thoughtful counterpoint to our usual concept of what a commercial gallery exhibition can be.
Craig Little and Blake Whitehead have worked together as Little Whitehead since studying together at Glasgow School of Art in 2007. Notorious for their darkly humorous conceptual pieces, which simultaneously un-nerve and provoke laughter, they are best Known for installations which employ life-size, realistic models of people in situations which are surprising and sometimes terrifying. Their statement of intent; ‘We want to beat you up visually’ is eloquently demonstrated in recent work which has employed mechanical sculpture as well as transforming culturally significant objects, including The Bible and Mein Kampf, by deep-frying or committing to ash. Little Whitehead have exhibited to acclaim at the Saatchi Gallery, Gimpel Fils in London and Gallery K in Milan.
John Wynne’s stunning installation for 300 speakers, Pianola and vacuum cleaner was one of the outstanding works in the Saatchi gallery’s 2010 survey of new British art, ‘Newspeak’. The first piece of sound art in Saatchi’s collection, this work of “frail monumentalism” (Charles Darwent) united critics as disparate as Adrian Searle and Brian Sewell in its praise. John’s disparate practice includes a project based on highly endangered click-languages in the Kalahari Desert and another with heart and lung transplant patients in the UK. His work with alarm sounds of his own design includes a work banned by the City Council of Copenhagen for allegedly “frightening and confusing the public” and another described as “an ambient, ghost-like presence”. John has a PhD from Goldsmiths and his award-winning work has been exhibited and broadcast widely around the world. He will create a new site-specific installation for ‘Air I Breathe’.
Kate Terry’s quietly spectacular installations employ simple materials such as thread and pins to dramatically map and transform the spaces into which they are installed. Recalling images of harmonic structures such as harps or the tightly ordered interiors of a piano, her meticulous installations reveal themselves slowly to the viewer and offer a seductive and sensational re-working of the spaces they inhabit. Kate’s work has been shown to acclaim internationally and has been purchased for public collections including the National Gallery of Canada.
Yoonjin Jung is a recent MFA graduate from the Slade. Her beautiful site-specific sculptures and installations explore the concept of ‘Seeing the Unseen’ and are inspired by the emptiness in oriental painting and the definition of invisibility in relation to space.
Every aspect of her work is carefully considered and planned, including the seemingly ‘empty’ or ‘unused’ spaces, which are in fact an essential element of her approach to sculpture. Yoonjin attempts to aid the viewer to an appreciation of the ‘unseen’ and to stimulate a discovery of what lies between the fragile boundary of invisibility and the
visible. She has been a finalist at the London Art Award (UK) and E-Media Art Festival.
