13 Jan 2013

'Freedom of Others', guest curated by Guli Silberstein at Salisbury Arts Centre

'For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others'
Nelson Mandela

Exhibitors: Liron Kroll, Jean-Gabriel Periot, Kate Rowles, Guli Silberstein.

The video works in this show address the position of the suppressed and the subordinate, exploring moments of defiance and self-discovery through diverse digital video practices.

Guli Silberstein presents a group exhibition as part of Salisbury Arts Centre's annual curatorial opportunity, which invites emerging curators to respond to a specific provocation. In this case, 'the heroic in the everyday' was the theme for an exhibition in the context of the Centre's spring season film focus. Guli, himself an established artist with an international CV, has assembled a group of artists with highly evolved political and critical practices.

His own contribution 'Disturbdance' shows a young woman trying to shield protestors from armed soldiers in an unspecified Middle East location. Slow motion, a lyrical soundtrack and digital manipulation create a distance and make the scene almost balletic, but intense and dangerous at the same time.

Liron Kroll's hyperreal 'High Expectations', inspired by Richard Yates' 'Eleven Kinds of Loneliness', explores pressures to conform and live up to feminine roles and ideals. Its protagonists seem trapped in staged suburban scenarios. Delicate colour and dispersed lighting create an eerie tension through unnatural beauty.

Jean-Gabriel Periot's 'The Devil' remixes 1960s footage of repression, ill treatment and retaliation of African Americans in the context of the Black Panthers' civil rights protests, highlighting the identity search of the oppressed. A frenetic rock soundtrack and rhythmic video editing suggest ebullient propaganda, putting the archive footage in a new, contemporary context.

'My Wonderland' by Kate Rowles is a whimsical work in which the artist, dressed somewhere between a little girl and a 50s housewife, looms huge in front of her childhood home. 'Directed' by her father from behind the camera, she is tracing the house's outlines and interacts with her mother who seems miniature in the background.

Family activities:

A reading space offers books related to the video works on show, and surrounding themes of heroism, resistance, power, and the challenging of stereotypical social roles. Visitors are invited to browse the books whilst lounging on beanbags.

In the 'creativity area' materials are available for visitors to recreate video art techniques and effects in the form of an art work on paper. The best work will be selected by our team to win a prize.

Feedback, questions and suggestions would be welcomed on the exhibition's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/FreedomOfOthers