States of Being: Constructing Identities

Chloe Sachikonye, Françoise Dupré, Brian Lobel, Dilesh Patel, Emilia Hapka, Nikolai Boyce and Yunie Sze
11 May 2012 to 8 June 2012

In collaboration with 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, we are pleased to bring you ‘States of Being: Constructing Identities’, showcasing work from a range of distinct artists. The exhibition explores how each person constructs an identity and a reality for him or herself from a puzzle of chosen and predetermined pieces and how they represent it to the outside world. This topic is particularly relevant in the city of London with its diverse and continuously fluctuating population, where individuals import, defend, assimilate, or discard parts of their identities to find a sense of belonging.

The artists Chloe Sachikonye, Françoise Dupré, Brian Lobel, Dilesh Patel, Emilia Hapka, Nikolai Boyce and Yunie Sze make for an exciting combination of young and established artists. Their work explores family histories, gender, cultural identities and the self in relation to others in various mediums. Chloe Sachikonye, a recent Central Saint Martins graduate, explores her Zimbabwean heritage, post-colonialism and limbo between identities through film. Brian Lobel’s humorous and provocative performances engage his audience in his exploration of illness. Lobel tests the value we assign to our time by buying and selling minutes of peoples lives in ‘Carpe Minuta Prima’. In her practice as a textile artist, Françoise Dupré has recontextualised stitching and knitting traditionally associated with the domestic space and addresses themes of motherhood and procreation. Dilesh Patel, Emilia Hapka, Nikolai Boyce and Yunie Sze, inspired by messages different countries sent with the first moon landing to celebrate mankind’s achievements, have created the interactive sculpture ‘Brixton Moon Disc’. Dilesh Patel, currently studying at London College of Communication has developed a unique photographic process creating a cross between scanner and pinhole photography to take compelling portraits. Works from a workshop with the A Level Photography course from Brixton’s Charter School will be shown in the gallery window.

We hope to inspire and engage the local community and the wider public in a discussion about identity through contemporary art, performances, talks and workshops. ‘States of Being: Constructing Identities’ launches with an opening on Thursday 10th May 2012, 6-10pm at 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning.

Curated by Rosie Garner, Stina Gustafsson, Nora Heidorn, Lauren Hutton and Evie Kendall, BA (Honours) Criticism, Communication and Curation, Central Saint Martins.