PERFORMANCE FETISH
05.10.13 - 28.10.13
SWG3 Gallery, Glasgow
A group show with Bryan Dooley, Sebastian Jefford,
Mathew Parkin, Kay Walkowiak
This group exhibition examines a fascination for sports gear and the popularity of an athletic aesthetic in contemporary art. Inspired by Rafael Nadal’s watch, the tape covering Christiano Ronaldo’s earrings and LeBron James’ tattoo cover-up sleeve, Performance fetish will try to find out why a young generation of artists refer to and use ready-made items from the world of sport. Embracing the performance enhancing technology and futuristic design of the materials available the artists in this show use the sports shop as hardware supplier and mistake the gallery for the gym.
Personal bests are the aim here using bike grip as tape and pull up bars as brackets, The artists in Performance Fetish have been stretching and pushing their materials to the limits, warming up ideas and pacing themselves to “work out” their practices. Bryan Dooley’s hanging piece is performing at its peak but all we can do is contemplate, cheer and spectate. Mathew Parkin’s work refers directly to the audience, the supporters who come and watch sport, loyally branded into a fetishistic or even deviant sportive dimension. Kay Walkowiak’s new prints depict one of his structural like sculptures in a series paying tribute to both gymnastics apparatus and the display rack. Sebastian Jefford refers to what sport could look like if you’d only vaguely heard about it, in hand made, remade and cast objects. The effort involved here is to be found in the conceptualization and arrangements of the different components.
05.10.13 - 28.10.13
SWG3 Gallery, Glasgow
A group show with Bryan Dooley, Sebastian Jefford,
Mathew Parkin, Kay Walkowiak
This group exhibition examines a fascination for sports gear and the popularity of an athletic aesthetic in contemporary art. Inspired by Rafael Nadal’s watch, the tape covering Christiano Ronaldo’s earrings and LeBron James’ tattoo cover-up sleeve, Performance fetish will try to find out why a young generation of artists refer to and use ready-made items from the world of sport. Embracing the performance enhancing technology and futuristic design of the materials available the artists in this show use the sports shop as hardware supplier and mistake the gallery for the gym.
Personal bests are the aim here using bike grip as tape and pull up bars as brackets, The artists in Performance Fetish have been stretching and pushing their materials to the limits, warming up ideas and pacing themselves to “work out” their practices. Bryan Dooley’s hanging piece is performing at its peak but all we can do is contemplate, cheer and spectate. Mathew Parkin’s work refers directly to the audience, the supporters who come and watch sport, loyally branded into a fetishistic or even deviant sportive dimension. Kay Walkowiak’s new prints depict one of his structural like sculptures in a series paying tribute to both gymnastics apparatus and the display rack. Sebastian Jefford refers to what sport could look like if you’d only vaguely heard about it, in hand made, remade and cast objects. The effort involved here is to be found in the conceptualization and arrangements of the different components.
