- Venue
- The Exchange
- Starts
- Saturday, February 10, 2018
- Ends
- Saturday, May 12, 2018
- Address
- Princes Street, Penzance TR18 2NL
- Location
- South West England
- Organiser
- Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange
Drawn from personal experience, Shaw’s exhibition at The Exchange features two installations that address head-on the global presence, effect of terrorism and the pervasive sense of hidden powers having control over our lives. The larger-than-life, looming figures from Soul Snatcher Possession will be shown within the confines of an enclosed space, alongside Shaw’s immersive installation Mother, The Air Is Blue, The Air Is Dangerous.
Describing his work Shaw says: “My work, which is essentially figurative, delves into the nature of the human psyche and has elements that are political, metaphysical and mythological. Themes of ritual and conflict reoccur.”
Mother, The Air Is Blue, The Air Is Dangerous is an immersive experience using video and sound. It is a deeply personal work, which offers a visceral insight into Shaw’s experience as a child in Belfast when he and his mother were caught in an IRA bombing. Shaped by Bloody Friday*, the work focuses beyond the zone of terror, a place occupied by a vision that remains distilled, hypnotic and strangely frozen in time. In Shaw’s words: “It recalls that what happened then is all too familiar now in today’s terrorized world.” The installation was first conceived and produced for an exhibition Time Got Kicked Around at the Kappatos Gallery, Athens in November 2014 as part of the Art Professionals-In-Athens Residency Scheme.
Influenced by a violent disturbance that took place on a street one night, Soul Snatcher Possession is a sculptural installation, which portrays an ambiguous meeting of figures, the air taut with menace. It could be the scene of a ritual gangland killing or punishment beating. No weapon is visible, the perpetrators smile and gestures betray the moment just before some dreadful act is committed where fear fills the imagination. Soul Snatcher Possession, originally exhibited in 2012 at Riflemaker Gallery, has the figures standing within a prefabricated space reconstructed to the size of Riflemaker’s first floor room.
What Remains is a partnership with Anima-Mundi to present Tim Shaw’s work across two sites in Cornwall during 2017/18. Something Is Not Quite Right at Anima-Mundi, St Ives, 13 Oct – 9 Dec 2017, presented new sculptural installations, as well as a series of maquettes for Soul Snatcher Possession.
*Bloody Friday was the major terrorist attack that took place in Belfast on 21st July 1972. The IRA planted 26 bombs, 19 of which exploded within 80 minutes across a three-mile area of Belfast city centre. Eleven people were killed, some quite literally blown to pieces, a further 130 civilians were injured, many horrifically mutilated.
Opening Night 8th February 7-9pm, after that Tue – Sat 10am – 5pm
The Exchange, Princes Street, Penzance TR18 2NL
01736 363715 www.newlynartgallery.co.uk
