SISYPHUS IN RETROGRADE
9 APRIL - 4 MAY 2019
AINDREA CONTEMPORARY x LONDON CURATORIAL
17-19 TRITON STREET, NW1 3BF
SOL BAILEY-BARKER, EVY JOKHOVA, ADELINE DE MONSEIGNAT,
NISSA NISHIKAWA & HARRISON PEARCE
SISYPHUS IN RETOGRADE
'Sisyphus in Retrograde’, curated by Aindrea Emelife and Gabriella Sonabend, presents the works of 5 contemporary artists whose practices reference ancient knowledge and incorporate the activation of sculpture through performance, kinetics and sound. Questioning the symbolism of materials and forms, these artists are linked by their fascination with the ritual object, the point of tension before collapse and the transfiguration of physical forms through the activation of sound, movement and touch. Together they pose questions about possible futures and sustainability within culture and environment.
Exploring the limits of their materials, these artists use sensorial elements to play with the audiences expectations and to challenge our relationship to symbolism and form. Each has research based practices which cross the boundaries between art and science.
Like Sisyphus eternally pushing his boulder uphill, these artists return repeatedly to their subject matter posing questions about how we can use ancient knowledge to develop sustainably in light of the imminent environmental crisis of the era of the anthrophocene. Perhaps posing another question, is human activity as the dominant force progressive, will we save ourselves, or are we in retrograde?
‘Hand Made Machines & Machine Made Hands’ by Sol Bailey-Barker
‘Hand Made Machines & Machine Made Hands’ is a multi-media installation presenting a body of kinetic and sonic sculptures within a dystopian glowing pink laboratory clad in black PVC. Combining steel and charred oak sculptures with hospital mechanisms, biospheres, scans of animal brains, a restored organ, plants and re-purposed analogue technology, this installation explores ideas around the imminent extinction of insect species, the evolution of technology from the ancient axe to contemporary prosthetics, the symbolism of monuments and ideas emerging from science fiction and science fact.
At the centre of the installation ‘Biosphere for a Dead Leaf Mantis’ houses a full ecosystem with the preying mantis as its predator. A new film combines archive imagery ranging from scanned museum relics to space rockets. The installation features ‘Ginungagap’ a new VR piece made in collaboration with Yuma Burgess, presenting a world of small collected scanned ovjects and sculptural remnants transformed into a vast alternate reality.
ANDREA CONTEMPORARY x LONDON CURATORIAL
17-19 TRITON STREET, NW1 3BF