Still from Paul Pfeiffer Caryatid, 2008. Courtesy: the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London
“Aleksandra Mir’s Triumph is among the summer’s most show-stopping installations”
4/5 stars in the Evening Standard
“For a wittier, darker, more surprising take on international sporting activities, head to this show”
The Guardian, one of London’s top 5 art exhibitions this summer
This exhibition brings together artworks which, in different ways and to varying degrees of seriousness or wit, play on some of the issues raised by sport, the politics surrounding it and its representation in the media. Aleksandra Mir’s spectacular installation Triumph, 2009, comprises 2,529 trophies; a sound piece by Janice Kerbel presents a specially scripted baseball commentary; and works by Roderick Buchanan, Lucy Gunning, Jonathan Monk, Ariel Orozco and Paul Pfeiffer take football as their subject. In Southwark Old Town Hall, John Gerrard’s Exercise (Djibouti) 2012 uses digital technologies to explore aspects of sport, spectacle, military exercise and power. In stark contrast, Michel Auder’s low-tech video collage of clips from TV coverage of the 1984 LA Olympics focuses on the human body, eroticised and mechanised in its pursuit of perfection.
Artists
Michel Auder / Roderick Buchanan / John Gerrard / Lucy Gunning / Janice Kerbel / Aleksandra Mir/ Jonathan Monk / Ariel Orozco / Paul Pfeiffer
Michel Auder, The Games: Olympic Variations, 1984, DVC Pro, 21π 36Π. Courtesy: the artist
Still from Paul Pfeiffer Caryatid, 2008. Courtesy: the artist and Thomas Dane Gallery, London
Lucy Gunning, The Footballers (1994-96), production still. Courtesy: the artist and Matt’s Gallery
