Magali Reus
22 Jan - 28 Mar 2010
MAGALI REUS
22 January - 7 March 2010
Magali Reus’ first solo exhibition in London is held at IBID PROJECTS following on immediately from her first solo exhibition in France at La Salle de bains, Lyon.
The exhibition ‘Background’ shares it’s title with Reus’ most recent film depicting six athletic men appearing like soldiers in training, performing a series of choreographed physical activities in an aggregate landscape. The men are clean cut, a sensuality echoed in the metal elements resting in the sand around them. The unit create tensions through silent strained exertions and uniformed movement. Intensely concentrated and self absorbed the instructions for the mens’ actions remain unclear aside from the need to test their own strength and the strength of the group as a whole. The setting of the sand and gravel is not restricted purely to posing as a background, the material is repeatedly given precedence over the figures. It could be seen that the men are nothing if not models of masculinity, where an equivalence between them and the muted landscape can be drawn. Through the elements of man, material and landscape it is undetermined which of these claims most importance or which is merely acting as the background.
Through the sculptures in the main gallery Reus references the stark and formal austerity of military equipment. Minimal sculpture intercepts the crisp walls demonstrating a considered and confident aesthetic as a fetishistic finish emerges in their tempering. The leaning structures of ‘Sheet Section’ wear a uniform of camouflaged green, ‘Spill’ twists the solidity of metal into soft strips of silicone rubber and ‘Pattern Recognition’ holds regimented form in steel. The artist has described her characters in the film as ‘awaiting instruction’ here one could say that the sculptures are similarly waiting instruction in their very inclusion.
Reus’ practice antagonisingly rests between formal Minimalist aesthetic and a more confident playful sense of humour. Through a tension between rigorous manmade production and a dismantled ephemeral placement an imminent sense of activity is created. She links a range of visual and conceptual languages combining analytical and experimental sequences to create beguilingly open-ended works. The sense of anticipation, precidence and truth are unresolved, left to be consolidated if at all by the viewer or the next tour of duty.
Magali Reus (b. 1981 Den Haag) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Background’ at La Salle de Bains, Lyon, ‘Some Surplus’ at Plan B in Amsterdam and ‘Playstation: A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun’ at Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam. Recent group exhibitions ‘La-bas’ at Galerie Crevecoeur in Paris, ‘Sun Shine Shine’ at Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem and ‘Verite Tropicale’ at Circuit, Lausanne.
‘Background’ was created with the support of La Salle de bains, Stroom Den Haag and Fonds BKVB, The Netherlands.
For more information or images please contact Jessica Watts:+44 (0)208 983 4355 or email: jessica@ibidprojects.com
22 January - 7 March 2010
Magali Reus’ first solo exhibition in London is held at IBID PROJECTS following on immediately from her first solo exhibition in France at La Salle de bains, Lyon.
The exhibition ‘Background’ shares it’s title with Reus’ most recent film depicting six athletic men appearing like soldiers in training, performing a series of choreographed physical activities in an aggregate landscape. The men are clean cut, a sensuality echoed in the metal elements resting in the sand around them. The unit create tensions through silent strained exertions and uniformed movement. Intensely concentrated and self absorbed the instructions for the mens’ actions remain unclear aside from the need to test their own strength and the strength of the group as a whole. The setting of the sand and gravel is not restricted purely to posing as a background, the material is repeatedly given precedence over the figures. It could be seen that the men are nothing if not models of masculinity, where an equivalence between them and the muted landscape can be drawn. Through the elements of man, material and landscape it is undetermined which of these claims most importance or which is merely acting as the background.
Through the sculptures in the main gallery Reus references the stark and formal austerity of military equipment. Minimal sculpture intercepts the crisp walls demonstrating a considered and confident aesthetic as a fetishistic finish emerges in their tempering. The leaning structures of ‘Sheet Section’ wear a uniform of camouflaged green, ‘Spill’ twists the solidity of metal into soft strips of silicone rubber and ‘Pattern Recognition’ holds regimented form in steel. The artist has described her characters in the film as ‘awaiting instruction’ here one could say that the sculptures are similarly waiting instruction in their very inclusion.
Reus’ practice antagonisingly rests between formal Minimalist aesthetic and a more confident playful sense of humour. Through a tension between rigorous manmade production and a dismantled ephemeral placement an imminent sense of activity is created. She links a range of visual and conceptual languages combining analytical and experimental sequences to create beguilingly open-ended works. The sense of anticipation, precidence and truth are unresolved, left to be consolidated if at all by the viewer or the next tour of duty.
Magali Reus (b. 1981 Den Haag) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Background’ at La Salle de Bains, Lyon, ‘Some Surplus’ at Plan B in Amsterdam and ‘Playstation: A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun’ at Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam. Recent group exhibitions ‘La-bas’ at Galerie Crevecoeur in Paris, ‘Sun Shine Shine’ at Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem and ‘Verite Tropicale’ at Circuit, Lausanne.
‘Background’ was created with the support of La Salle de bains, Stroom Den Haag and Fonds BKVB, The Netherlands.
For more information or images please contact Jessica Watts:+44 (0)208 983 4355 or email: jessica@ibidprojects.com