Artists: Thomas Hamen, Paloma Proudfoot, Sofia Restorp, Nicholas Riis
Exhibition title: Towards a Theory of Powerful Things
Curated by: Danny Lamb
Venue: Rod Barton, London, UK
Date: July 13 – August 11, 2018
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Rod Barton, London
Rod Barton is pleased to announce an upcoming group show featuring artists, Thomas Hämén, Jens Kothe, Paloma Proudfoot, Sofia Restorp and Nicholas Riis in “Towards A Theory Of Powerful Things” from 13 July – 11 August, 2018
Quasi-organic and metamorphic in their materiality, these artworks settle into the gallery habitat, freshly hatched in the sterilised, laboratory-like room. With polished curves and measured corners, the fleshy forms suggest a non-organic design, pointing towards a theory that paths a meeting point for a new species of bi-objects, with fantasy-function and almost-texture. Their soft, reptilian sheen sits like fresh sweat on the surface of a collection of new-born items.
Non-terrestrial in their nature yet broadly referential of the existing parameters found in grounded con-sumer items, the objects can be seen as transmutations between sleek furniture to animal toys, fetish-wear to theatrical props, bowling pins to food. They are all adopting of a function that has evolved, warped or been spellbound from any natural, organic or formal origin, like a level-up in a cos-play fantasy game or a advancement in technology which has an unspoken power. Like a child knows their toys can’t be alive, Nicholas Riis’s techno-fetishistic chambers act as containers of something that probe belief that they are; Thomas Hamen’s crustacean like figures crawl across the planes of his drawings; Sofia Restorp’s be-witched Cephalopoda arm’s are on the brink of fusing themselves around a willing body.
As devices for an imagined reality, the work departs from the expected usage that their recognisable components suggest. Continuing in Paloma Proudfoot’s smooth, dented ceramics and Jens Kothe’s suede anatomical cell maps, the work morphs between reference from various household objects, surfaces and meticulous industrious production methods. Seductive and vulnerable in their delicacy, they are trans-formed and derailed from their perceived origins.
With future, fantasy function in mind, these powerful static ‘things’ apprise their ontology; as artificial-or-ganisms from constructed origins.
-Text by Oliver Durcan
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Towards a Theory of Powerful Things, 2018, exhibition view, Rod Barton
Jens Kothe, O.T. / wall object XVI.II, 2018, cushion, fabric, foam, wood construction, acrylic paint, nails, screws, 140 x 140 x 10 cms / 55 1/8 x 55 1/8 x 4 in
Jens Kothe, O.T. / wall object XVI.I, 2018, cushion, fabric, foam, wood construction, acrylic paint, nails, screws, 140 x 140 x 10 cms / 55 1/8 x 55 1/8 x 4 in
Thomas Hämén, Bodies 3, 2016, Acrylic on paper, 162 x 120 x 5 cms / 63 3/4 x 47 1/4 x 2 in (Framed)
Paloma Proudfoot, Table Installation (Drunk Legs), 2017, Painted metal, marble, glazed porcelain, Dimensions variable
Paloma Proudfoot, Finger Hooks, 2017, Glazed porcelain, 7 x 5 x 9 cms / 2 3/4 x 2 x 3 1/2 in
Paloma Proudfoot, Mother (Hot Flush), 2017, Glazed porcelain, 33 x 11 x 10 cms / 13 x 4 3/8 x 4 in
Paloma Proudfoot, Mother and Child (Flux), 2017, Glazed porcelain, 33 x 14 x 10 cms / 13 x 5 1/2 x 4 in
Paloma Proudfoot, Lean To, 2017, Glazed Porcelain, 32 x 14 x 38 cms / 12 5/8 x 5 1/2 x 15 in
Paloma Proudfoot, Finger Hook, 2017, Glazed porcelain, 5 x 5 x 2 cms / 2 x 2 x 3/4 in
Sofia Restorp, Untitled, 2015, Glazed ceramics, buckle clips, synthetic fabric straps, satin ribbons, 22 x 23 x 20 cms / 8 1/2 x 9 1/8 x 7 7/8 in
Nicholas Riis, Egg Leather Tan Travel, 2018, Seat liner, wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux hair extensions, wood pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, 39 x 95 x 52 cms / 15 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 20 1/2 in
Nicholas Riis, Egg Leather Tan Travel, 2018, Seat liner, wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux hair extensions, wood pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, 39 x 95 x 52 cms / 15 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 20 1/2 in
Nicholas Riis, Egg Leather Tan Travel, 2018, Seat liner, wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux hair extensions, wood pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, 39 x 95 x 52 cms / 15 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 20 1/2 in
Nicholas Riis, Egg Leather Tan Travel, 2018, Seat liner, wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux hair extensions, wood pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, 39 x 95 x 52 cms / 15 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 20 1/2 in
Nicholas Riis, Dita Adult, 2018, Wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux fur, faux pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, seat liner. hockey gloves. rubber bands, 44 x 103 x 53 cms / 17 3/8 x 40 1/2 x 20 7/8 in
Nicholas Riis, Dita Adult, 2018, Wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux fur, faux pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, seat liner. hockey gloves. rubber bands, 44 x 103 x 53 cms / 17 3/8 x 40 1/2 x 20 7/8 in
Nicholas Riis, Dita Adult, 2018, Wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux fur, faux pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, seat liner. hockey gloves. rubber bands, 44 x 103 x 53 cms / 17 3/8 x 40 1/2 x 20 7/8 in
Nicholas Riis, Dita Adult, 2018, Wax, polystyrene, pigment, faux fur, faux pearls, protection foam, sheep wool, apoxie sculpt, seat liner. hockey gloves. rubber bands, 44 x 103 x 53 cms / 17 3/8 x 40 1/2 x 20 7/8 in