16 Nov 2008

A season of experimental art at the Royal Academy of Arts

GSK CONTEMPORARY

A multidisciplinary season of cutting-edge visual culture at the Royal Academy of Arts supported by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens
31 October 2008 – 19 January 2009

Supported by GlaxoSmithKline

Part I: Molten States
31 October 2008 – 4 December 2008

The Royal Academy of Arts has launched GSK Contemporary, a new eclectic three month season of exhibitions and events. GSK Contemporary introduces international artists, surveys emerging trends and provides a new platform for experimentation, discussion and debate within the contemporary visual arts. The exhibition programme is split into two main parts:

Part I: Molten States 31 October– 4 December
Part II: Collision Course, 16 December – 19 January

Opening the season in the main first floor galleries is the multi-media exhibition Molten States. Exploring the links between art and performance, it features work from four international artists known for their focus on film, theatre and narrative - Olaf Nicolai, René Pollesch, Julian Rosefeldt and Catherine Sullivan. Olaf Nicolai presents a newly commissioned installation Lonesome Spot and René Pollesch will stage a performance of: Tod Eines Praktikanten(Death of a Trainee). Julian Rosefeldt will show the trilogy, featuring Stunned Man, The Perfectionist and The Soundmaker Sound Maker. US film and video artist Catherine Sullivan's recently commissioned work Triangle of Need, a multi- faceted combination of 16 mm film, video projection and monitors will be shown in London for the first time.

Event Horizon is a 12-week programme of new commissions by major London-based artists curated by temporarycontemporary. Highlights include Georgina Starr, Bob and Roberta Smith, David Medalla, Spartacus Chetwynd and Marc Camille Chaimowicz. Transforming experience through experimental installation and action, Event Horizon explores a trend in British contemporary art where 'sculpture becomes event'. A late-night bar and social club environment by temporarycontemporary hosts installations, performances, and ephemeral participatory works.

Throughout the entire run of the season, work by artists Antony Micallef, Rémy Markowitsch and Maya Roos will be installed in the grand entrance hall of 6 Burlington Gardens and the surrounding ground floor galleries. On entering the building, visitors will be greeted by Swiss artist Rémy Markowitsch's suspended light-sculpture, Onion Options. The Berlin-based painter Maya Roos uses the computer software Norton to break down and colour code the work of an individual and create a 'portrait' through the hard disk of the subject's personal computer. The large painting, Portrait by Speed Disk, will be unveiled in the ground floor entrance gallery.

The East End restaurant Bistrotheque will be operating FLASH, a pop-up restaurant designed especially for GSK Contemporary and reflecting the preoccupations of the exhibition programme. The GSK Contemporary shop will stock amongst other things a new limited edition print produced by London based artist Anthony Micallef, Wedgewood dinner services designed by Will Broome in collaboration with FLASH, and a series of 'flaneur silk scarves' commissioned by temporarycontemporary.

The galleries are complimented by East End restaurant Bistrotheque, set up as FLASH a pop-up restaurant designed especially for GSK Contemporary. During the season South London artist- curators, temporarycontemporary, will create Event Horizon, a performance and social space focusing on London based artists. With a late night bar at its centre, the rooms provide a gallery space for a constantly changing programme and series of artist run events, highlights include performances by Georgina Starr, Bob and Roberta Smith, Marc Camille Chaimowicz and Spartacus Chetwynd.

Part II: Collision Course
16 December 2008 – 19 January 2009

The second part of the season, Collision Course, reflects the winter timings of the programming with a bleak and austere aesthetic underlying the three main exhibitions; Burroughs Live, Sudden White and Dark Materials, as well as the accompanying programme of talks and cinema screenings. On entering the building, visitors will be greeted by a vast snowscape painting of a post–apocalyptic London, which covers the entrance to the exhibition of artists' film and video, Sudden White, curated by Mark Beasley of Creative Time. Film and video works from Bruce Conner, Cyprien Gaillard, Ryan Gander, Jonathan Horowitz, Tracey Moffat, John Russell, Robert Smithson, Javier Tellez, Guido van de Werve and Linda Weiss will be presented on a series of screens, light boxes and monitors.

Upstairs, Burroughs Live co-curated by Burroughs expert José Ferez and David Thorp, aims to establish the presence of American novelist, film maker, social critic, painter and spoken word performer, William Burroughs. The show presents film footage of Burroughs' own performances and films including Thanksgiving Prayer and Towers Open Fire and previously unseen footage. A series of photographic self-portraits will be exhibited alongside works produced in collaboration with other artists such as George Condo and Keith Haring, as well as portraits by among others Robert Mapplethorpe, Annie Liebowitz, David Hockney and Damien Hirst.

A new film work from artist Malcolm McLaren, Shallow, will be shown alongside Burroughs Live. The 21 'film portraits' that make up the work were inspired by Burrough's Cut Up technique.

Dark Materials, draws together recently acquired works from the Frank Cohen Collection which evoke the sense of the aftermath of destruction, from Banks Violette's burnt out framework of a church, to Indian artist T.V. Santhosh's installation Counting Down, in which digital timers count down the final moments to catastrophic disaster. The exhibition culminates with a room of 'skeletal' sculptures from Asian artists Hyungkoo Lee, Sudarshan Shetty and Jitish Kallat.

SUPPORTERS

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is the Royal Academy's first title sponsor. GSK is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical and healthcare companies and is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. In 2007, GlaxoSmithKline's community investments were valued at £282 million and targeted health and education programmes in over 100 countries. GlaxoSmithKline has a long history of supporting art initiatives that encourage creative thinking.

Justine Frain, Vice President Global Community Partnerships for GlaxoSmithKline:

'We have a long standing commitment to the arts, and indeed have supported the Royal Academy of Arts in different capacities for more than 20 years. We are a business that depends on creativity and innovation to bring improvements in health and wellbeing, so we value creative thinking and discussion. We are proud to be the title sponsor of this new and exciting endeavour by the Royal Academy of Arts.'

2008 season supported by Sotheby's

The Henry Moore Foundation generously supports the Art Bar by temporarycontemporary

The Goethe Institute London generously supports the performance 'Tod eines Praktikanten' by René Pollesch

The IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V.) generously supports the installation of works by Olaf Nicolai and Julian Rosefeldt

Prohelvetia & The Stanley Thomas Foundation generously supports the installation of work by Remy Markowitsch

The Swiss Cultural Fund in Britain generously supports the installation of works by Maya Roos and Rémy Markowitsch

Media Partner
Time Out

Single Visit Ticket: £6 (concessions available)
Multiple Visit Tickets: £25 (8 visits)

To book tickets in advance please phone 08716 204020

More details and full programme on www.royalacademy.org.uk/gskcontemporary