BLOODY ENGLISH
2014-01-20Bloody English, is a group exhibition curated by Ariella Wolens. This exhibition introduces the work of eight contemporary artists based in London: Charlie Billingham, Adham Faramawy, Emma Hart, Celia Hempton, Patrick Hough, Oliver Osborne, Prem Sahib, and Jesse Wine. Each with his or her own distinct sensibility, these artists have been brought together in this exhibition to determine whether nationality can be read through images, and what may be distinct about English artwork. From the heritage of Gainsborough and Turner, to the celebrity of the Young British Artists of the ‘90s, these young artists are responding to their environment whilst delineating their position within a globalized art world, forming their identity in relation to their past and transnational present.
The title of this exhibition invokes the British penchant for irony, with a black humor that subverts Victorian decorum. In focusing on the English character, Bloody English highlights the contradictions between the stereotypical image of propriety and the English sense of humor that thrives on painful awkwardness. In Emma Hart’s video Dice (2009), the artist plays a game of chance with the sea. The absurdity builds with the repetition of the action, and the surmounting tension, in this deadpan performance with nature.
Exhibition runs through to February 15th, 2014
937 N. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles
CA
90069
