 Metamorphosis, 2007 anamorphic film, 9 minutes duration Clare Langan Metamorphosis Houldsworth Gallery is very pleased to present the new film work by Clare Langan, "Metamorphosis", from 6 September to 1 October 2007 to run concurrently with "Becks Fusions", a series of unique live art and music events across the UK, for which the ICA has specially commissioned Clare Langan to make a new work. Becks Fusions Pod comprising a 16-screen 360° multi-projection will be launched by the ICA, in Trafalgar Square, and open free to the public from 6-8 September. "Metamorphosis" will be exhibited at Houldsworth as a large projected installation where the screen shape will reflect the anamorphic format in which the film was shot. Langan's "Metamorphosis", at its first public showing, won the Principal Prize at the Oberhausen International Film Festival in May 2007. Fulbright scholar and cinematographer, Clare Langan is one of Ireland's most celebrated artists. With previous experience working in the world of commercial big-budget films such as "Braveheart", "Some Mother's Son" and "The Boxer", she refrains from elaborate manipulation of images in post-production relying instead on the inherent sensuality of film. Her much acclaimed "A Film Trilogy - Forty Below", "Too Dark for Night" and "Glass Hour" was presented at numerous important venues and biennales worldwide, most notably at MoMA in New York as part of its "Mediascope" Program, 2003, Tate Liverpool, 2002, the Irish Museum of Modern Art 2002, and the Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Tokyo, 2003. She represented Ireland in the 25th Bienal de Sao Paulo, 2002. Clare Langan powerfully cultivates introspection, where poetic atmospheres and elegiac landscapes, capture the very nature of our fragile existence against the perpetual forces of nature. Langan uses the camera as an instrument to capture the reverberation of something that has disappeared. It depicts a world in an unrelenting state of transformation and motion, as it shifts between scenes of stormy landscapes to snow filled interiors, from frozen glacial surroundings to violent seas. "Metamorphosis" deals with issues of cinematic off time, but here time becomes specific, as we see a suspended time of social history. Langan's work investigates an empty cityscape whose streets are eerily absent of its inhabitants. The storm leads us into snow filled interiors, with only flashes of its former inhabitants to suggest a human presence, but not leading to any definitive conclusions as to their fate. The hybridity of Clare Langan's practice can be see with film references that are both historically arresting and diverse, from early black and white glass plate photography to Japanese ink drawings of the 15th Century. The soundtrack comprises an original score by the composer, Jurgen Simpson. Langan has always exploited the cinematic quality of her work in its presentation, both in terms of image projection, sound, and the architecture of the space. "A Film Trilogy" was exhibited at The International 2002 at Tate Liverpool for The Liverpool Biennial, and "Forty Below" was shown as part of the Glen Dimplex Artists' Award 2002 at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, whilst her film installation "Floodlight" was exhibited in "At Sea", Tate Liverpool. In 2003 "A Film Trilogy" was presented at MoMA in New York as part of its MediaScope Program. In 2004, Langan was part of IMMA's "Views from an Island; Contemporary Art from Ireland", and in 2005, "A Trilogy" was exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Tokyo; Miami Art Museum, ACME, Melbourne and at the Shanghai Youth Bienial. Following the Prinicipal Prize Award for "Metamorphosis" at Oberhausen Film Festival in May, the work has been selected by Isabelle Bertolotti, curator of Musée d'Art Contemporain, Lyons as part of "Rendez-Vous" for the Lyons Biennale in September this year. Exhibition: 6 September - 1 October 2007 Gallery hours: Wed-Fri 10am - 5.30pm, Sat 10.30am - 1pm Houldsworth Gallery 50 Pall Mall Deposit 124-128 Barlby Road UK-London W10 6BL Telephone +44 (0)20 8969 6166 Fax +44 (0)20 8969 6209 Email gallery@houldsworth.co.uk www.houldsworth.co.uk |
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