George Henry Longly
DAIMYO - Warlords of Japan
16 Feb - 13 May 2018
GEORGE HENRY LONGLY
DAIMYO - Warlords of Japan
16 February – 13 May 2018
Curator: Adélaïde Blanc
Palais de Tokyo, in partnership for the first time with the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, presents an exceptional collection of artefacts that belonged to a powerful caste of governors who reigned in Japan between the 12th and 19th centuries: the daimyo.
At Palais de Tokyo: George Henry Longly,The Tissue Equivalent
At Palais de Tokyo, artist George Henry Longly has created an original installation, “The Tissue Equivalent” [Le corps analogue], based on these rarely exhibited masterpieces.
George Henry Longly presents an unsettling sensory experience in a vast arena that plays host to eight suits of daimyo armour, bearskin spear sheaths, and banners. The British artist offers a contemporary perspective on these historical objects which here dialogue with an installation that blends sculpture, video, and sound. Veritable technological masterpieces of their time, the suits of armour enter into resonance with deep-sea research robots that explore the abysses of the ocean. From skin to armour, from the exoskeleton to artificial extensions of the body, the works of George Henry Longly and the daimyo artifacts connect through the prisms of history, science, and phenomenology.
Paying close attention to systems of display, be they museological, theatrical or commercial, George Henry Longly presents a shifting environment that skirts and sidesteps our every attempt to apprehend it.In this installation, the artist brings together popular culture and the collective unconscious whilst drawing inspiration from a synthetic material that imitates the cellular tissue of the human body. Sculpted into the form of limbs or torsos, this material has previously been launched by scientists beyond Earth’s atmosphere in order to test the levels of radiation to which the body would be exposed in outer space. In a similar fashion, “The Tissue Equivalent” exposes visitors to distortions and oscillations, forces which modify their perception of the exhibition space and of the works and historical Japanese objects to which it plays host.
“Everything that holds the artifact, the mechanics of display, changes the object and the understanding that we have of it.” George Henry Longly
George Henry Longly
George Henry Longly (born in 1978, lives in London) is a British multidisciplinary artist. Drawing from museology, anthropology, pop music, consumerism and current affairs, Longly’s projects set out to locate a sense of ‘now’ in relation to projected pasts and futures. Display systems, viewing structures, frameworks for looking and the role that these mechanisms play in building the art experience are at the forefront of his research.
Recent solo shows include “We All Love Your Life” (Red Bull Studios, New York, 2016); “The Smile of a Snake” (Galerie Valentin, Paris, 2016). Group shows include “Prediction” (Mendes Wood, São Paulo, 2016); “The boys, the Girls and the political” (Lisson Gallery, London, 2015). George Henry Longly is currently working on a publication with Red Bull Arts NY and CURA.
He is represented by the Galerie Valentin (Paris) and Koppe Astner (Glasgow).
DAIMYO - Warlords of Japan
16 February – 13 May 2018
Curator: Adélaïde Blanc
Palais de Tokyo, in partnership for the first time with the Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, presents an exceptional collection of artefacts that belonged to a powerful caste of governors who reigned in Japan between the 12th and 19th centuries: the daimyo.
At Palais de Tokyo: George Henry Longly,The Tissue Equivalent
At Palais de Tokyo, artist George Henry Longly has created an original installation, “The Tissue Equivalent” [Le corps analogue], based on these rarely exhibited masterpieces.
George Henry Longly presents an unsettling sensory experience in a vast arena that plays host to eight suits of daimyo armour, bearskin spear sheaths, and banners. The British artist offers a contemporary perspective on these historical objects which here dialogue with an installation that blends sculpture, video, and sound. Veritable technological masterpieces of their time, the suits of armour enter into resonance with deep-sea research robots that explore the abysses of the ocean. From skin to armour, from the exoskeleton to artificial extensions of the body, the works of George Henry Longly and the daimyo artifacts connect through the prisms of history, science, and phenomenology.
Paying close attention to systems of display, be they museological, theatrical or commercial, George Henry Longly presents a shifting environment that skirts and sidesteps our every attempt to apprehend it.In this installation, the artist brings together popular culture and the collective unconscious whilst drawing inspiration from a synthetic material that imitates the cellular tissue of the human body. Sculpted into the form of limbs or torsos, this material has previously been launched by scientists beyond Earth’s atmosphere in order to test the levels of radiation to which the body would be exposed in outer space. In a similar fashion, “The Tissue Equivalent” exposes visitors to distortions and oscillations, forces which modify their perception of the exhibition space and of the works and historical Japanese objects to which it plays host.
“Everything that holds the artifact, the mechanics of display, changes the object and the understanding that we have of it.” George Henry Longly
George Henry Longly
George Henry Longly (born in 1978, lives in London) is a British multidisciplinary artist. Drawing from museology, anthropology, pop music, consumerism and current affairs, Longly’s projects set out to locate a sense of ‘now’ in relation to projected pasts and futures. Display systems, viewing structures, frameworks for looking and the role that these mechanisms play in building the art experience are at the forefront of his research.
Recent solo shows include “We All Love Your Life” (Red Bull Studios, New York, 2016); “The Smile of a Snake” (Galerie Valentin, Paris, 2016). Group shows include “Prediction” (Mendes Wood, São Paulo, 2016); “The boys, the Girls and the political” (Lisson Gallery, London, 2015). George Henry Longly is currently working on a publication with Red Bull Arts NY and CURA.
He is represented by the Galerie Valentin (Paris) and Koppe Astner (Glasgow).