The Collectors Room.
Curated by Karen David
JGM Gallery
Howie Street, Battersea London. SW11 4AY
T: +44 (0) 207 228 6027
A group exhibition including a new site specific collaboration by Rosalind Davis and Justin Hibbs.
JGM will re-open in June on Friday 5, Saturday 6, Friday 12 and Saturday 13 June from 11-5.
There will be a publication launch from 1-4pm on Saturday 13 June, which will also be the last day of the exhibition.
The Collector’s Room sees JGM Gallery transformed into a parlour room of a collector with a leaning towards illusion, stage magic and the escapologist Harry Houdini. In this room we encounter artworks such as spirit levels, levitations, gospel magic props, tarot cards, portraits of magicians, antique keys, handcuffs, sword boxes, escape trunks, magic wands, smoke, and mirrors.
‘The piece ‘House Rules’ was made specifically by Rosalind Davis and Justin Hibbs for the exhibition ‘The Collectors Room.’ Curated by Karen David at JGM Gallery. As well as playing with questions of reality, image and artifice in Karen’s narrative of the exhibition of magician/collector muse the work also addresses the underlying idea of being created to be a part of a ‘Collection’. As well as being a sculpture in its own right the piece simultaneously functions as an object of display to house a collection of other artworks or objects. The notional ‘Collector’ of the piece would complete the work by curating their own objects onto it. For the exhibition, we have selected our own houseplants and a small sculpture created by Rosalind’s father, Peter Davis. The piece plays with the idea that the ‘finished, complete or autonomous artwork is a falsity or a piece of theatre - in reality all sorts of other ambient factors are at play’,* meanings will shift and change depending on different contexts, time and importantly the viewer will inevitably bring their own ideas, and ultimately perhaps; take the work home to become a part of their own story. The piece actively encourages participation and completion by the ‘Collector’ to finish the story of the work by furnishing its shelves for themselves.
(*quote from Martin Herbert from the text ‘Between Before and After’ 2015 to accompany Justin Hibbs exhibition Alias_Recovered. At the Caroll/Fletcher gallery 2015).
In this sense the sculpture is very much an extension of themes that circulate Justin and Rosalind’s practice and the ongoing collaboration between them. These shared themes touch upon a blurring between traditional notions around media and disciplinary boundaries (i.e Art versus Design practices and their respective methodologies, image versus object, function versus decoration etc etc..) but also challenging some typical notions of value associated with art objects - such as intrinsic value, practical use and artistic authorship. An aspect of Justin’s own practice has an ongoing concern with ‘modes of display’ and particularly how the language of contemporary art has been widely adopted and mutated within the arena of commercial shop display.
The piece ‘House Rules’ is a prototype, or a first of sorts in that it completely fuses what are usually separate elements of our repective practices; Rosalind’s linear steel structures and Justin’smirrored sculptures.
The piece on display is the first in an edition of 3, as there is an intention to create further variations of this work. Each of the 3 would be unique, variations upon the first. This is an important distinction as the piece is not completely ‘pre-designed’ but its final form or logic is only found through the process of its making. In this sense the piece has ‘logical inconsistencies’ (or puzzles, which do not quite make sense) that are more in keeping with a sculptural process which could be seen in contrast with a more traditional design process whereby these inconsistencies might be ‘resolved’ or eradicated to find a consistent design rationale.’ Text by Justin Hibbs
