Kamikaze Blossom
Curated by Richard Ducker
Fieldgate Gallery, London
12 May - 4 June 2006
Artists: Richard Ducker - Matt Franks - Clare Gasson - Stewart Gough - Sam Herbert - Liane Lang - Richard Livingston - Claire Robins - Laura White - Mark Wright
“… I drew close – I whispered something and kissed her – a tear rolled down her cheek – and then I captured forever the moment – our mutual emotion was recorded on the silver film …” --Edward Weston’s account of his reunion with his lover Tina Modotti
Blossom, like a supernova, achieves a momentary perfection, before falling and dying. The Japanese Kamikaze pilots of the last World War before embarking on suicide missions painted cherry blossom on the side of their planes as a symbol of the ephemerality and beauty of nature. Through this metaphor, the fragility of a life short-lived, and the attempt to capture its trace is made visible. These artists are concerned with attempting to arrest something from these fleeting moments. This process evokes experiences lost: a living breathing body, objects heavy with nostalgia and longing, a yearning for love and touch, a sense of place, and the joy of materials.
“When art, becomes independent, depicts its world in dazzling colours, a moment of life has grown old and it cannot be rejuvenated with dazzling colours. It can only be evoked as a memory.” --Guy Debord Society of the Spectacle
The work in this exhibition engages with the curiosity of human desires and fears, yet each artist denotes human presence by its absence or fragment. Through a certain emptiness in these works, emotion is sublimated: the animal as metaphor, the voyeurism of the photograph, the monumental of the everyday object, and the intervention of found materials. Though a strong humanity exists, these artists also explore its death within the spectacle of the artworks.
This is the first exhibition at a new space of 10,000 square feet under the Atlantis art shop and 10 minutes walk from the Whitechapel Art Gallery. The nearest tube stations are Aldgate East and Whitechapel.
Opening hours: Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12-6 pm
