The Browning of Britannia is a major new BFI commission that explores questions of truth and self-perception. An intriguing and controversial hall of mirrors, it continues and develops artist Faisal Abdu’Allah’s investigation of cultural identity. It explores the the story of Ago Piero Ajano, who was first brought to Faisal Abdu'Allah's attention by his 'power of attorney', who was adamant that Ago is a descendant of King Edward VIII. Today, after having led a lavish lifestyle in London in the 80s, Ago lives in a very modest council flat, penniless.
Shows & Exhibitions
Belfast Exposed Photography presents Residency by Anthony Luvera, an exhibition of photographs made over a 16-month period by the artist and people who have experienced homelessness living in Belfast. Residency consists of a new series of large-format Assisted Self-Portraits, landscape images of Belfast and documentation of Luvera’s working practice through photographs, production polaroids and excerpts from the artist’s workbooks. A publication of the work is scheduled for Autumn 2008.
Brent's laudable community space, The Gallery At Willesden Green, opens the 2008 season with a superb selection of artists exploring Nature and Landscape through a variety of art forms and styles.
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens presents site-specific installations by Miami-based sculptor Cristina Lei Rodriguez and Chicago-based theater and film artist Catherine Sullivan. Rodriguez's work opened on November 8 and Sullivan's on November 29, 2007. The artists were invited to explore Vizcaya and its history and to develop artworks as part of the Museum's Contemporary Arts Project. Both installations will be on view at the National Historic Landmark through February 24, 2008.
Belfast Exposed presents Simon Roberts' Motherland, an exhibition of 26 photographic prints, accompanied by a publication of the same title published by Chris Boot, produced over the course of a year spent travelling across Russia. Roberts started in the Far East of that country, travelled through the Siberian provinces, up the Kola Peninsula and across Kaliningrad, before heading down to the Northern Caucasus, the Altai Mountains and along the Volga River.
The ‘contagious magic’ described famously by anthropologist James Frazer in his study of ‘savage’ societies is one example of the many forms of magic reliant upon supernatural agency which cultural historian Simon During contrasts with the secularized illusions of the theatrical conjuror in Modern Enchantments (Harvard 2002). In KALANAG, Jonathan Allen problematises clear distinctions between these different forms of magical enchantment in a photographic installation that focuses on Adolf Hitler's notorious 'minister of magic'.
The group exhibition Ben van Berkel & the Theatre of Immanence consists of an advanced installation designed by Städelschule professor of architecture Ben van Berkel together with Prof. Johan Bettum and Luis Etchegorry. The installation houses a series of works by artists and architects who have participated in the one-year long experimental project, entitled the Space of Communication, a project by the Städelschule Architecture Class (SAC).
French Kissin' in the USA is the first exhibition in the United States of the current emerging generation of French artists. It takes its title from a 1986 hit song by Blondie and presents the work of eighteen contemporary French artists which have not yet been widely received outside France. The French artistic force celebrated within this exhibition resonates well beyond Europe and has always served as an inspiration to the creative world.
Camden Arts Centre presents About 90 elements / TOD IM DSCHUNGEL, a new exhibition by Thomas Scheibitz including paintings, sculptures and large works on paper. German artist Scheibitz received international acclaim at the Venice Biennale in 2005. Using geometric shapes and symbols taken from personal memory and the media, he creates a vision of a future fast-paced consumer society.
With artifacts, records, films, artworks, and reproductions documenting, remembering, and presenting wars both historical and contemporary, Apocalypse Now: The Theater of War examines the philosophical terrain of war. Featuring images and sounds related to war and the impact war has on the human mind, the exhibition is more than a simple illustration of war. Instead it describes war as a universal idea of human antagonism, a set of languages and iconographies embedded in our everyday lives and broader social consciousness.
