Dawn Mellor / John Russell / Haegue Yang
11 Jul - 17 Aug 2013
DAWN MELLOR / JOHN RUSSELL / HAEGUE YANG
Dog Days II
11 July - 17 August 2013
MOTINTERNATIONAL London are pleased to present their second summer exhibition Dog Days II, with artists John Russell, Dawn Mellor and Haegue Yang.
Selected images from Dawn Mellor’s body of work What Happened to Helen? consider the power of role play in portraits in which celebrities are burlesqued and public figures described as irreverent versions of themselves. Mellor has depicted Helen Mirren’s embodiment of a wide range of characters; shown here is the Duchess of Malfi and Queen Elizabeth II. The layered portrayal of Helen Mirren is seen at once through Mellor’s positioning of herself as a fan and through the lens of the two servants, Claire and Solange from Jean Genet’s 1947 play Les Bonnes (The Maids). The construction of identity and relational positions of class structures are revealed as a slippery medium, constantly revolving and transforming.
The repeating cycle of Elf Flux (2013) brings to life fluttering butterflies and the rippling surface of the sea. Both unreal and hyperreal, John Russell’s work is a construction of an outer- or deep- or under- space. Hypnotic far off worlds straddle staged fiction and ecstatic prophecy, backgrounded by overcast, apocalyptic storm clouds. The flat areas of uniform tones and defined sharp edges favoured by animated GIFs, result in an articulation of surface, flattened yet without a loss in detail or vibrancy. The stillness of the constructed image combined with the continuous stilted movement creates a tension between the imagined and the experienced.
Haegue Yang combines domestic and industrial materials to create sensorial installations and mobile structures, with a concern for movement and cycles emerging in her recent work. Her practice addresses both political and historical narratives whilst balancing more intimate relationships between objects and performers. Rotating Lines suggest themes of disorientation and displacement. The wall-mounted sculptures with clusters of bells vibrate with movement and sound when spun─sitting somewhere between frantic reverberations and the peal of festival. The performance of transformation within Dog Days II is one that sways between darkness and delight.
Dawn Mellor (b.1970) Recent exhibitions include What Happened to Helen, Focal Point, Southend-on-Sea, UK (solo: 2013) Are You Alright? New Art From Britain, The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2013) We Love Our Audience, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam (2012) Pigments, Peter Bergman, Stockholm (2012) and An Ecstasy of Purpose, Studio Voltaire, London (solo: 2010)
John Russell (b.1963) Recent exhibitions include The Hecklers, curated by Cedar Lewisohn, The New Art Gallery Walsall (2013) The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things curated by Mark Leckey, Nottingham Contemporary (2013) File Transfer Protocol, curated by Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Haifa Museum of Art, Israel (2012) and Jexus, MOTINTERNATIONAL, Brussels (solo: 2012)
Haegue Yang (b.1971) Recent exhibitions include Family of Equivocations, Aubette 1928 and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasbourg, France (solo: 2013) Ovals and Circles, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris (solo: 2013) Dress Vehicles, The Tanks: Art in Action, Tate Modern, London, UK (solo: 2012) and Documenta (13), Kassel (2012)
Dog Days II
11 July - 17 August 2013
MOTINTERNATIONAL London are pleased to present their second summer exhibition Dog Days II, with artists John Russell, Dawn Mellor and Haegue Yang.
Selected images from Dawn Mellor’s body of work What Happened to Helen? consider the power of role play in portraits in which celebrities are burlesqued and public figures described as irreverent versions of themselves. Mellor has depicted Helen Mirren’s embodiment of a wide range of characters; shown here is the Duchess of Malfi and Queen Elizabeth II. The layered portrayal of Helen Mirren is seen at once through Mellor’s positioning of herself as a fan and through the lens of the two servants, Claire and Solange from Jean Genet’s 1947 play Les Bonnes (The Maids). The construction of identity and relational positions of class structures are revealed as a slippery medium, constantly revolving and transforming.
The repeating cycle of Elf Flux (2013) brings to life fluttering butterflies and the rippling surface of the sea. Both unreal and hyperreal, John Russell’s work is a construction of an outer- or deep- or under- space. Hypnotic far off worlds straddle staged fiction and ecstatic prophecy, backgrounded by overcast, apocalyptic storm clouds. The flat areas of uniform tones and defined sharp edges favoured by animated GIFs, result in an articulation of surface, flattened yet without a loss in detail or vibrancy. The stillness of the constructed image combined with the continuous stilted movement creates a tension between the imagined and the experienced.
Haegue Yang combines domestic and industrial materials to create sensorial installations and mobile structures, with a concern for movement and cycles emerging in her recent work. Her practice addresses both political and historical narratives whilst balancing more intimate relationships between objects and performers. Rotating Lines suggest themes of disorientation and displacement. The wall-mounted sculptures with clusters of bells vibrate with movement and sound when spun─sitting somewhere between frantic reverberations and the peal of festival. The performance of transformation within Dog Days II is one that sways between darkness and delight.
Dawn Mellor (b.1970) Recent exhibitions include What Happened to Helen, Focal Point, Southend-on-Sea, UK (solo: 2013) Are You Alright? New Art From Britain, The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto (2013) We Love Our Audience, Galerie Gabriel Rolt, Amsterdam (2012) Pigments, Peter Bergman, Stockholm (2012) and An Ecstasy of Purpose, Studio Voltaire, London (solo: 2010)
John Russell (b.1963) Recent exhibitions include The Hecklers, curated by Cedar Lewisohn, The New Art Gallery Walsall (2013) The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things curated by Mark Leckey, Nottingham Contemporary (2013) File Transfer Protocol, curated by Pil and Galia Kollectiv, Haifa Museum of Art, Israel (2012) and Jexus, MOTINTERNATIONAL, Brussels (solo: 2012)
Haegue Yang (b.1971) Recent exhibitions include Family of Equivocations, Aubette 1928 and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasbourg, France (solo: 2013) Ovals and Circles, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris (solo: 2013) Dress Vehicles, The Tanks: Art in Action, Tate Modern, London, UK (solo: 2012) and Documenta (13), Kassel (2012)