Artist: France-Lise McGurn
Exhibition title: Mondo Throb
Venue: Bosse & Baum, London, UK
Date: November 15 – December 18, 2016
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Bosse & Baum, London
Bosse & Baum is pleased to present Mondo Throb, a solo exhibition by France-Lise McGurn. ‘Mondo’ means ‘world’ in Italian and is also the title given to a genre of exploitation filmmaking (common in the 1970s); ‘Throb’ means here a rhythmic beat, a pulsation, palpitation, implying a rush of blood to an inflamed, or excited, body part.
McGurn works, predominantly, with painting and drawing, both of which are presented in Mondo Throb, some having been made in the studio, some in situ. Her work is developed from a non-indexical archive of collected imagery and moving image files. References for this body of work arise from social and emotional phenomena including, but not limited to: family, privacy, club culture, disobedience, sexuality, ecstasy. Ecstasy, is its multiple forms, stands at the forefront of this body of work, and filters through in its many guises, from carnal ecstasy to divine ecstasy, as seen in Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s funerary monument, Blessed Ludovico Albertoni. More specific inferences, particular to this body of work, are taken from film, television, music, visual culture. For example, clips of The new dance show, a local TV show shot in Detroit In 1988; Softcore and sexploitation film clips from productions such as: Beyond Shame (A.K.A a place beyond shame), 1980, Walk on the Wild Side, 1962, Emmanuelle, 1974, Emmanuelle in Space, 1994; Nine and a half weeks, 1986); illustrations for Happy Families card decks (Wills,1939). This range of material becomes the basis for sketches, developed further through the working process, where she presents relationships between motif (a psychological shape that is repeated), notation (rhythmical instruction) and memo (mnemonic convenience). A sound piece, made with ‘virtual singer’ downloadable software, plays in the yard in front of the gallery.
France-Lise McGurn (b. 1983, Glasgow) lives and works in Glasgow. She graduated with a BA from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 2005 and with an MA from the Royal College of Art in 2012.Selected exhibitions include: Felicity Black, Vertical Vulnerability, Caustic Coastal (October, 2016); The Old Things, Crévecoeur, Paris (July, 2016); Texting, Kate Werble Gallery, New York (July, 2016); At Home Salon: Double Acts, Ascot (July, 2016); Only with a light touch will you write well, freely and fast, Supplement, London (2016) and Only with a light touch will you write well, freely and fast, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow (2015); NEO-PAGAN BITCHWITCH! Evelyn Yard, London (2016); 3am (solo), Collective Gallery, Edinburgh (2015); A collaboration with Marianne Spurr, Studio Leigh, London (2015); Nos Algae’s, a performance at Tramway, Glasgow (2014). She was part of collaborative performance Amygdala N.O.S with Kimberley O’Neill and Cara Tolmie at South London Gallery (2015), for the launch of Love your Parasites, edited by Camilla Wills, which she also contributed to. Upcoming exhibitions: Nomadic Vitrine, Recent Activity (October, 2016); France-Lise McGurn, Zoe Williams & Urara Tsuchiya, at The Pipe Factory (February, 2017).
McGurn runs a club night residency at the poetry club in Glasgow, in collaboration with Katie Shannon, called DAISIES, where they invite DJs and artists to contribute to the decor and installation.
France-Lise McGurn, Soft, psychic, sweet surprise, 2016, site-specific wall mural, acrylic, spray paint and cigarettes
France-Lise McGurn, Soft, psychic, sweet surprise, 2016, site-specific wall mural, acrylic, spray paint and cigarettes
France-Lise McGurn, Soft, psychic, sweet surprise, 2016, site-specific wall mural, acrylic, spray paint and cigarettes
France-Lise McGurn, Soft, psychic, sweet surprise, 2016, site-specific wall mural, acrylic, spray paint and cigarettes
France-Lise McGurn, Aerobics gives you herpes, 2016, gesso, oil, acrylic, spray paint and marker pen on canvas, 160 x 150 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Betty batteries,2016, gesso, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 48 x 40 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Cruel Intentions, 2016, gesso, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 60 x 66 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Hermione Hormone, 2016, gesso, oil, acrylic, spray paint and marker pen on canvas, 85 x 80 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Mad butterfly, 2016, oil, spray paint and marker pen on canvas, 85 x 80 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Possession, 2016, oil on canvas, 82 x 77 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Privates Benjamin, 2016, oil, acrylic, spray paint on canvas, 66 x 60cm
France-Lise Mcgurn, Puttanesca, 2016, gesso, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 160 x 150 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Sega mega, 2016, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 50 x 46.5 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Sega Mega, 2016, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 50 x 46.5cm
France-Lise McGurn, Vitus, 2016, gesso, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 60 x 45.5 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Cruel Intentions, 2016, gesso, oil, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 60 x 66 cm
France-Lise McGurn, Untitled, 2016, floor painting, gloss paint on concrete, dimensions variable
France-Lise McGurn, Untitled, 2016, floor painting, gloss paint on concrete, dimensions variable
France-Lise McGurn, Untitled, 2016, floor painting, gloss paint on concrete, dimensions variable