Misrepresentation Mistake and Non – Disclosure

July 6 – August 25, 2012
Rove Gallery, London

Misrepresentation, Mistake and Non-Disclosure brings together the works of five Mexican artists of the same generation – Stefan Brüggemann, José Davila, Gonzalo Lebrija, Jorge Méndez Blake, and Tercerunquinto – and presents their work together for the first time. The exhibition focuses on the ways in which the works of these artists interact with one another, and explores the immediate similarities between their artistic practices.

Approaching these works together reveals the parallels between their uses of visual language, which combines progressive ideologies with sombre topics such as ‘void’, ‘failure’ and ‘dystopia’. One of these parallels is the critique of existing social and institutional systems. Tercerunquinto’s Anarchitecture directly addresses the urban environment of Shenzhen & Hong Kong; the construction of portals from a barrier opens a filtered view of the city’s landscape, commenting on its rapid, recent transformation. This work references Matta-Clark’s deconstruction of urban spaces, whose influence also extends to Méndez Blake’s use of architecture as a primary conceptual tool, as well as to the idea of linguistic entropy suggested by his ongoing Libraries series, which depicts literature as a monument forgotten in remote, unreachable locations.

Stefan Brüggemann’s practice directly deals with language, using it as a primary tool in his experimentation with the fluidity of words and structure of meaning. His series of works, Untitled (Joke & Definition Paintings), each feature a Richard Prince joke from his series Joke Paintings, and a Joseph Kosuth definition from his series Art as Idea as Idea. The artist uses sentences previously loaded with specific philosophical and humorous ideas to create new meanings. This form of appropriation is also evident in Jose Davila’s Homage To The Square, which translates the composition and title of Josef Alber’s infamous series into a three dimensional form. This playful approach to context and medium can also be seen in Gonzalo Lebrija’s The Distance Between You And Me, which features a video loop depicting the artist running away from the audience, suggesting either a total departure from meaning, or an enticing invitation onto a shared journey.Each artist explores the frontier between their medium and existing social systems, whether they be linguistic, institutional, or architectural, with a distinct playfulness that underlies them all.

Practical info
Rove Gallery
33 – 34 Hoxton Square
London, N1 6NN
United Kingdom

info@mmand.org
+44 (0)7804 688306

11.00 – 18.00

Tuesday – Saturday