Andrew Barns-Graham: Still
Sorry, this event’s been and gone
When:
| Tue 16 Mar ’10, 5:30pm |
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| Wed 17 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Thu 18 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Fri 19 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Sat 20 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:00pm |
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| Sun 21 Mar ’10, 11:00am–4:00pm |
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| Mon 22 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Tue 23 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Wed 24 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Thu 25 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Fri 26 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Sat 27 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Sun 28 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Mon 29 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Tue 30 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Wed 31 Mar ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Thu 1 Apr ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Fri 2 Apr ’10, 10:30am–5:30pm |
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| Sat 3 Apr ’10, 10:30am–5:00pm |
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| Sun 4 Apr ’10, 11:00am–4:00pm |
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| View more sessions |
Where: Sanderson Contemporary Art, 251 Parnell Road, Parnell Show map
Restrictions: All Ages
Ticket Information:
- Admission: Free
Website:
Favourites:
Andrew Barns-Graham’s exhibition Still, furthers the artist's exploration of ideals and desires promoted by Western society’s obsession with the cult of celebrity.
The desire to identify with the most beautiful of our cinematic heroines has always been and still is a position strongly promoted by the magazine industry.
The title Still refers not only to the movie stills, promotional shots and fashion images from which Barns-Graham has sourced his material, but the term is also implicit in the tracing of patterns across time – patterns in which the aim for perfect beauty is reflected as a legitimate mode of being.
Today magazines such as Who and New Idea regularly go further on our behalf investigating in some detail the ways by which we might artificially enhance our natural attributes. Through their persistent exposure of the personal lives of celebrities, they make it possible to believe that we can defy age and alter our looks appreciably.
'Classic' glamour from the 1950s and 1960s is depicted alongside contemporary imagery to demonstrate the seemingly unchanging nature of western ideals in relation to beauty. The cult of celebrity is a phenomenon we associate with the American movie industry as we follow week after week via television and magazine culture the enigmatic goings-on and latest developments in both beauty and fashion for the most prominent female leads in the movie and fashion industry.
The imagery Barns-Graham sources from the past extends and confirms the beliefs we take for granted today. Rather than appearing irrelevant, compared with contemporary icons, these images represent a much important link. It makes our obsession with beauty seem inevitable and natural; making it possible to demonstrate that it has always existed.
The artist makes the point that we have not changed as much as we think: rather than complete replacement of the visual language of consumerist society, the idealised aspirations he presents come from a long tradition of continual promotion of the desire for physical perfection and the glamorous life.
The pared-back detail in his compositions focuses attention on the glamour and beauty of the subjects he depicts. The faces evoke cinematic icons yet are altered to become anonymous, removing associations that may indicate a life outside an impression of Hollywood, camera shoots and theatrical props.
Still opening preview Tuesday 16th March at 5.30pm.
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