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home > art > exhibition reports > PERVERSE POPAn exhibition review by Marc Blackie22nd Feb - 23rd March 2002 Changeable weather in London and on a Saturday too. There are only so many times that a guy can feed the ducks and read the broadsheets and with this in mind I headed off on a whirlwind tour of a few of the capitals smaller art galleries, to see what all those creative folk out there have been up to. The highlight of the day was a visit to Old Street's Catto Contemporary which is currently showing Perverse Pop - a group of artists' response and condemnation of dream-feeding multinational companies, peddling their burgers/designer-wear image of conformity to the under 25s.
There are also a few pieces on display here from Banksy. Those unaware of his work could do well to alight at almost any tube station around the central-east of London and within a few minutes walk you are almost guaranteed to see some of it. Developing something of a cult following, Banky's work appears overnight as intelligent and often politically motivated graffiti art and most often is removed with the swiftness it arrives. This has given him a reputation for being somewhat of a Guerrilla Artist and appropriate enough his contribution to the Perverse Pop exhibition is a portrait of Che Guvera, complete with spinning spirals for eyes. This famous portrait is almost the patron saint of Pop Art - a classic example of how a potent and important image can be reduced down to t-shirt fodder, stripping it of all of its meaning. Banksy's piece pokes fun at this ridiculousness, even going so far as to invite the gallery visitors to concentrate on the spinning eyes for 20 seconds to experience "Guerrilla Vision".
So leaving the gallery and emerging into the unfortunately less than fragrant air of Old Street, the show provides plenty to think about. It is a small selection of work, which is a shame as it would have been nice to have seen a wider selection from each artist shown, but still - these small exhibitions are an excellent way to acquaint onesself with new and emerging artists and are also a pretty fine alternative to broadsheets and duck feeding. MARC BLACKIE - 20 March 2002
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Some
of the pieces on display here from the eight artists are more obviously
aligned with the "inherent sickness in our consumerism" than others. Gareth
Morgan's 'Robot Man' series portrays an android figure engaging in
various forms of consumerism with a look of apathy upon his metallic face.
With titles such as 'I dreamt I was Human and I had to eat and drink and
piss Happy Meal' and the red, white and yellow legs and boots displayed
behind the character, it is fairly easy to see what his target is. Abigail
Simmonds's 'Helmet, Football and Tennis ball' covered in sequins are
a little harder to interpret as direct attacks upon a specific target,
but perhaps show the conformity we come to expect from the products we
surround ourselves with on a daily basis.
From
the other works on display, David Hancock's 'Something Beautiful,
Something Free (Pervert Rock)' also stands out. Being an acrylic on canvas,
the piece deals with a listless androgynous teen sat on a bedroom floor
surrounded by all the trappings of youth/style culture. Magazines featuring
"The Divine David" and Marylin Manson, Camden-bought alternative wear
and leather jackets make up the scenery as the figure sits there bored
and flicking through pages. Oh and then there is the bloody arm emerging
from under the mess...
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