Velkommen til Sydhavn Station’s sommerudstilling, Dark Star, som er en soloudstilling med den Britisk-Amerikanske kunstner, Daniel McGrath.
Indhyllet i sorte hættetrøjer, syntetiske træningsbukser, kondisko, cykelhandsker og ansigtstildækkede Manchester United tørklæder vil en skare af 1:1 menneskefigurer danne centrum i denne ominøse udstilling. Udstillingen tegner sit billedsprog fra overvågningstv og journalistiske optagelser af tidligere civile race- og klasse-optøjer i London, Paris og andre steder i Europa. Hætteklædte oprører i blyantsskitser, små ler-skulpturer og akrylmalerier, vil tilsammen befolke rummet på stationen som en techno-Goth zombie horde. CCTV, et massivt vægmaleri på udstillingsstedets bagvæg, vil skildre de hætteklædte figurer i en tvetydig crowd holdning, hvori deres mørke skikkelser er pixelleret i spektret af en low-res video transmission.
Humor er ikke gået tabt her (udstillingstitlen er taget fra en tidlig John Carpenter sci-fi parodi), på trods af det død-alvorlige emne. Der udspilles en scene og en ironi på dagens kultur, hvor manden med leen har byttet kappe og le ud med atletisk udstyr og cellulær teknologi. Værkerne tager ikke parti med hverken offer eller gerningsmand men understreger derimod dæmonen af overforbrug som vor absurde skæbne.
Daniel McGrath er i øjeblikket på CPH AIR residency i København. Han er adjungeret professor for kunstafdelingen på Webster University i St. Louis. I 2005 modtog han sin Master of Arts fra Kings College - University of London og i 2000 Bachelor of Fine Arts fra UCLA. Han er co-leder af Isolation Room/Gallery Kit, var co-leder of Sweetboy Projects i Los Angeles og har organiseret udstillinger i USA og Storbritannien. Han er bidragsydende kunstskribent for Art US, Review Magazine og St. Louis Magazine. Han har udstillet hos Hunter College MFA Studios, New York; Office Space, Los Angeles; Sweetboy Projects, Los Angeles; PSTL, St. Louis; og the Hunt Gallery, St. Louis. Han bor og arbejder i henholdsvis Oxford, Storbritannien og St. Louis, Missouri.
Under sit ophold i Danmark har McGrath desuden bygget et nyt Isolation Room/Gallery Kit på Fabrikken for Kunst og Design, hvor han vil præsentere en række udstillinger med internationale kunstnere i løbet af Juli måned: For mere information: www.isolationroom-gallerykit.com og www.ffkd.dk
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The exhibition space Sydhavn Station is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in Denmark by UK/US artist, Daniel McGrath.
Cloaked in black hoodies, vinyl track pants, sneakers, cycling gloves and face-covering Manchester United scarves, life-size figures loom mid-stride at the center of this ominous exhibition. Drawing its imagery from CCTV and journalistic footage of the August 2011 civilian race and class riots that erupted in London, Paris and elsewhere in Europe, the exhibit renders the form of the hoodie-clad insurrectionist in pencil sketches in outside poster hangers, tiny clay sculptures and acrylic paintings that populate the space like a techno-Goth zombie horde. CCTV, a massive mural on the gallery's rear wall, will depict the hooded figures in an ambiguous crowd setting, their dark forms pixilated by the spectrum of low-res video transmission.
Humor is not lost here (the show's title is taken from an early John Carpenter sci-fi parody), despite the dead-serious subject matter. Playing on the monstrous irony of today's culture, in which the Grim Reaper has traded cloak and sickle for athletic wear and cellular technology the work sides with neither victim nor perpetrator, implicating the demon of consumerism-at-large for our absurd fate.
Daniel McGrath is currently at the CPH AIR residency in Copenhagen. He is an adjunct professor in the art department at Webster University in St. Louis. In 2005, he received his Master of Arts from Kings College – University of London. In 2000, he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCLA. He is co-director of Isolation Room/Gallery Kit, was co-director of Sweetboy Projects in Los Angeles and has organized exhibitions in St. Louis and the United Kingdom. He is a contributing art writer for Art US, Review Magazine and St. Louis Magazine. He has exhibited his work at Hunter College MFA Studios, New York; Office Space, Los Angeles; Sweetboy Projects, Los Angeles; PSTL, St. Louis; and the Hunt Gallery, St. Louis. He lives and works between Oxford, United Kingdom and St. Louis, Missouri.
During McGrath’s stay in Copenhagen, he has also been building a new Isolation Room/Gallery Kit at the Factory of Art and Design where he is presenting a series of exhibitions with international artists in the month of July. For more information: www.isolationroom-gallerykit.com and www.ffkd.dk
