PILAR CORRIAS Contemporary Commercial Gallery

PARALLAX

3-channel animation work by artist, Shahzia Sikanderat, at the Pilar Corrias gallery in London

“Focusing on the Strait of Hormuz and the area’s historical power tensions, the animation Parallax is inspired by the idea of conflict and control.  Drawn elements come together to create dissonance and disruption. Abstract, representational and textual forms coexist and jostle for domination. Spheres made of hair spin and sing, Christmas trees made of valves and spools spout, while undulating colour fields create pitch and fervour and large swaths of static noise erupt into flocks. Human voices recite and narrate, creating tension and rhythm while oscillating between audible texts and the environmental sounds.  Visual vocabulary is culled from drawings and paintings to construct the animation, giving the motifs and symbols a shifting identity as they come together to re-create meaning within the digital space.”

HAUSER & WIRTH Art Gallery

Carousel (Stainless Steel Version) (1988)

Environmental installation by Bruce Nauman at the Hauser and Wirth art gallery in London

“Carousel (Stainless Steel Version)’ (1988) is an environmental installation by Bruce Nauman as part of the exhibition titled, ‘mindfuck’ that foreground the phenomenological aspect of his exploration of perception, space, and the body. His artistic project opens up into the realm of psychology, anthropology, sociology, and behavioural science. The artist once stated that he wished to make ‘art that was just there all at once…like getting hit in the back of the neck with a baseball bat’.

THREE LOVE SONGS

Three-synced channel video installation by Adel Abidin at the Hauser and Wirth art gallery in London

“The installation syncs three stylized music videos (lounge, jazz and pop) that each features an archetypal western chanteuse: young, blonde, and seductive. Each video’s dramatic “look” creates a different atmosphere but the songs dedicated to Saddam Hussein tie them together. The lyrics are sung by the performers in Arabic (Iraqi dialect) and are subtitled in English and Arabic. The singers do not know what they are singing about, but they are directed to perform (though voice and gesture) as though the songs were traditional, passionate love songs. It is this uncomfortable juxtaposition – between the lush visual romanticism and the harsh meaning of the lyrics, between the seduction of the performer and comprehension of the viewer – that forms the main conceptual element of this work.”