'Apoohcalypse Now ' ~ At The Hayward Project Space

Friday, 11 January 2008 21:24

LONDON - In the final part of its series showcasing works by film artists, The Hayward Project Space presents South African artist Ed Young and Mexican artist Artemio, both of whom take clips from well known films and splices them together like a cinematic collage, often to comic effect. They will be on view 25 January – 9 March 2008.

Young will present Its Not Easy, a series of re-edited scenes from Superman films showing the hero wracked by the very un-super and familiar human emotions of anger, despair and self-doubt. The film plays to a soundtrack of the same title by American band Five for Fighting, whose song became a hit anthem in the US following the terrorist attacks of September 2001.

Artemio will show a number of short pieces including a new film which fuses scenes from the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster Total Recall with other footage taken from American science fiction and apocalyptic movies. The film, entitled State of Emergency, examines our responses to the incessant flow of TV news with its images of disaster and catastrophe, while pointing to a collective refusal to seriously engage with the realities of today’s war-torn world.

In contrast Apoohcalypse Now (2002) takes Marlon Brando’s infamous monologue from Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film and interprets it through the children’s character Winnie the Pooh. Whether looking at popular culture or linguistics, film piracy, racial stereotypes or warfare, Artemio’s work consistently exhibits a fresh and challenging attitude.

Ed Young - Ed Young was born in Welkom, South Africa in 1978. After a BA in Sculpture and Studio work, Young completed and MFA at Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town. He has had solos shows in Cape Town at Blank Projects, Bell-Roberts Gallery and South African National Gallery and in NSA in Durban. His work has been included in over fifty group shows, including most recently The Art of Failure, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel (2007); Animus/Wilderness, Barbes, New York (2007); HELL YEAH, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cape Town (2007); Unimove 2006, Pescara, Città Sant’Angelo (2006); America. How Contemporary Videoartists See the USA (Part 1), Figge von Rosen Galerie, Cologne (2006). He lives and works in South Africa.

Artemio - Artemio was born in Mexico City in 1976. He was educated in many renowned institutions in New York and Mexico City, including Parsons School of Design and E.N.A.P respectively. Artemio has undertaken many solo shows over the past eleven years in Mexico, Los Angeles and Spain. His work has featured in over 80 group shows, including most recently Perdios en el Despacio, OFF-LIMITS, Madrid (2007); Otra de Vaqueros, Laboratorio Alameda, Mexico City (2007); Hysterical Horror, Union Docs, New York (2006); Prophets of Deceit, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2006); Pulse, (first Durban Video festival), Durban (2006); Ok; National Gallery, Jakarta (2005); T1 The Pantagruel Síndrome Torino triennale trimusei, Torino (2005); Monuments for the USA, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2005). Artemio lives and works in Mexico City.