Sadie Coles

Jonathan Horowitz

07 Sep - 07 Oct 2006

JONATHAN HOROWITZ
"Rome"

For his second show, Jonathan Horowitz takes the eternal city as his subject. Rome, as the keystone of western civilisation, becomes for Horowitz an all encompassing imaginary construct; the embodiment of the ideal society, the epitome of decadent society. By extension he considers its status as the model for totalitarian and democratic governments, from Napoleon to the US founding fathers, from Mussolini to Hitler. The exhibition centres on a new video, which weaves strands from documentaries about ancient Rome, Mussolini and the making of the movie Ben Hur, considered the greatest achievement of Hollywood epic cinema. Working across a variety of media, focusing on the iconic forms of antiquity - pillar, arch, idealized human form and concentrating on the overwhelming spectacle that defines the 'Fascist style', Horowitz questions its proximity to more generic trends in popular culture.

© Jonathan Horowitz
 

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