The Republic of Brexitopia is an imaginary country of the near future. An exhibition at the Espacio Gallery in London invites an international group of artists to explore the forms that such a country might take and the forces that might shape it.
Using a mix of participative, performative and provocative strategies the artists address not just Brexitopia’s political and economic trajectory, but also the relationship between its citizens, the lure of exceptionalism, and the narrow line between optimism and delusion, utopia and dystopia.
The tone of the artworks varies from the passionate to cool observation, from the committed to wry humour. Some responses are based on personal experience of the artists – a shaken sense of belonging and the feeling of being turned into “the other”. Other responses test the boundaries of patriotism, truth and historical remembrance.
The participative nature of many of the works invites the visitor to reflect on the idea of human agency. They suggest that we don’t have to resign ourselves to the inevitability of this or that future, but that we can choose to be active agents in shaping the future we desire.
Participating artists: Roan Allen , Roelof Bakker, Jenni Bea, Ben Bird, Lizzie Brown, Andy Caruso, Emer Costello, David Dunnico, Ahmed Farooqui, Jake Francis, Livia Garcia, Esperanza Gomez Carrera, Jacqui Grant, Tom Hackett, Christina Lovey, Liana Bortolozzo, Andy Metcalf, Billie Penfold, Marta Pieregonczuk, Laurence Rassat, Marc Renshaw, Louise Scillitoe-Brown, Chia-An Yang.
Curated by Degrees of Freedom artist group
6-16th September 2017 The Republic of Brexitopia the Espacio Gallery, 159 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 7DG. Entry-free.www.degreesof-freedom.co
Categories
Tags
- Ahmed Farooqui
- Andy Caruso
- Andy Metcalf
- Ben Bird
- Billie Penfold
- Chia-An Yang
- Christina Lovey
- David Dunnico
- Emer Costello
- Esperanza Gomez Carrera
- Jacqui Grant
- Jake Francis
- Jenni Bea
- Laurence Rassat
- Liana Bortolozzo
- Livia Garcia
- Lizzie Brown
- Louise Scillitoe-Brown
- Marc Renshaw
- Marta Pieregonczuk
- Roan Allen
- Roelof Bakker
- Tom Hackett
