- Venue
- Gagosian Gallery
- Location
- London
‘Crash’ is a large group exhibition that brings together works my many artists including Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol and Helmut Newton and also younger contemporaries such as Jenny Saville, Roger Hiorns and Mike Nelson. Ballard’s exploration of the psycho- sexuality of the road accident (Crash) is the predominate theme that runs through each chosen work used within the exhibition. The exhibition shows, despite the running similarity of the theme, a diverse set of visual images from photographs to sculpture that use Ballard’s ideas of modernity’s and technology. The array of works, although they have not been made specifically for the exhibit, captures the essence of modern life. This is seen in many works by the artists use of Ballard’s quote of ‘sex x technology= the future’. However the literalness of this quote can be seen in many of the works, as artists have submitted plainly used images of technology and the naked figure. Each artist presented the theme in his or her own manner by medium but in terms of the running theme the exhibition lacked originality. Literalness pending to the theme was disappointing. The exhibit is interesting however, as it shows that many artists from different backgrounds and the way in which work is produced in extremely different manners can all be placed under one specific theme. The exhibition is therefore extremely exciting in terms of art works being shown together with the many different ways of working but there is a lack of originality within the works relating to the theme. The huge collection of works from well-known artists within the context of the Gagosian gallery and under one roof is a must see.
