 The Misfits, 2005 wood, cardboard & binder, 78 3/4 x 84 5/8 x 33 1/2 in, 200 x 215 x 85 cm Andrew Lewis Crown Imperial Monarchy is the immediate feature of "Crown Imperial", an exhibition of digital prints and new sculptures by Andrew Lewis. In this exhibition, Lewis presents a series of images proposing the crown of the British Monarch as an imaginary and allegorical architectural structure. Three hybrid sculptures composed of architectural styles and motifs from different time periods and places stand alongside the prints. All the works in this exhibition are at once familiar and strange, and it is with this paradox that Lewis is concerned. The crown and orb in this exhibition were initially thought of as objects in a still life. Placing them within an urban context changed their scale and, altering perspective, Lewis challenges his audience to see familiar things in a new light. The relationship between the crown and country sites these digital prints within a nation and a national history. However, their presentation here upsets preconceived ideas about social hierarchies and the exclusivity of royal spaces. On closer inspection this crown is not an exclusive royal palace, but is a care centre, rehabilitating the drug addicts of society; Princes Charles and William make a royal visit to a sanatorium, forced to mingle with anonymous unwell or depressed people. Questioning who or what Monarchy is for, Lewis is interested in how the spectacle of jewelled structures can coexist, or not, with troubled contemporary urban living. Faced with layers of meaning and association, viewers are forced to consider the relationship between the traditions and reality of where we live. The interaction between his people and the world they inhabit is complex and at times uncertain. The sculpture "Misfits" is indicative of this uncertainty of belonging to, but not fitting in, a particular society. A strange vehicle, a hovercraft mounted with a rocket, related in shape to Russian architectural onion-domes, doesn't seem to make visual sense. Containing photographs of Elgar, Coleridge-Taylor and Lewis himself, the work ponders how artists can come to stand for a national culture, when they themselves feel outside of it. Lewis' work is often melancholic; the problematic duality of belonging and not belonging, of being sick in a beautiful environment is meditated upon. He is interested in how utopian spaces are often not all they seem. Dismantling social hierarchies and boundaries, Andrew Lewis poses questions about where we all belong. Andrew Lewis was born in London in 1968 and studied at the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow. He has exhibited widely, including, "Systems", at InIVA, London, in 2002, "White Van Men GB", Galerie Serieuze Zaken, Amsterdam, in 2002, "Photo Opportunities", New Art Gallery, Walsall, 2004, and "The Misfits", Attitudes, espace d'arts contemporains, Geneva, 2005. Exhibition: 29 November 2005 - 7 January 2006 Gallery hours: Mon-Fri 10 am - 5.30 pm, Sat 11 am - 4 pm Gimpel Fils Lower Gallery 30 Davies Street GB-London, W1K 4NB Telephone +44 20 7493 2488 Fax +44 20 7629 5732 Email info@gimpelfils.com www.gimpelfils.com |
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