Alex Hartley: Case Studies
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
28 March - 12 May 2001
Case Studies is an exhibition of new work by the British artist Alex Hartley. Presented in the upper space of the new Victoria Miro Gallery, this is the artist's first major show in London since his solo exhibition at the Victoria Miro Gallery and Sensation at the Royal Academy in 1997. Alex Hartley is primarily known for his glass encased photographs of gallery spaces, tower blocks and fictional architectural constructions. In this exhibition he pursues his dialogue with iconic modernist architecture. The centre piece of the exhibition is Case Study, which is Hartley's most ambitious work to date. This monumental installation takes a nine-meter slice through a steel and glass building and is based on the houses of the Californian Case Study Programme started in 1945. Encased in a giant wedge shaped frame of etched glass that inhibits our view Hartley has created a disorientating fictional space which both perplexes and seduces the viewer. The exhibition also includes Randomised Double Blind, a vibrantly coloured series of polished acrylic blocks which give the illusion of containing more space than their volume allows.
Born in 1963, ALEX HARTLEY lives and works in London. He has exhibited at, amongst others, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark; The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize, The Photographers' Gallery, London and the Ludwig Museum of Modern Art,Vienna. His work is currently on display at the Henry Moore Foundation, Leeds until April and he will be exhibiting at The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan at the end of the year.
VICTORIA MIRO GALLERY
16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW
