| Paradise
Omeros . Baltimore
9 September - 11 October 2003
Victoria Miro Gallery
Isaac Julien is a master of juxtaposing screens and playing with film
technology to produce enticing scenario and narrative. Alternating between
"the specific and the elliptical, the documentary and disorientating"
he is able to explores social issues within the context of space and aesthetic
to create a complex social commentary, which weaves in and out of our
consciousness to produce sometimes alarming affects, which jump at us
when we least expect it. For this show, Julien is showing two films, Paradise
Omeros, the much celebrated film at last years Documenta 11 in Kassel,
Germany and Baltimore along with photographs taken during the filming
of both. With the recurring imagery of the sea and the constant switching
between St Lucia in the Caribbean to 60s London and beyond, Paradise Omeros
deals with hybridity and multi culturalism creating a film, which grabs
the viewer, often leading us away from the narrator. There is always a
slightly auto-biographical element in his work; however Baltimore does
this in a less obvious way. Creating an unsettling commentary, Julien
uses, as in previous works, Vagabondia (2000) and Three (1996-99), museums
as key locations. Inspired by blaixploitation films, he appropriates the
styles and language to create something which defies classification. The
work is displayed on three screens creating an almost Matrix affect as
it sweeps our vision from image to image , while photographs from both
films entice us into the world of the characters. While looking towards
history and the personal stories of people today he creates a complex
narrative with visually rich scenarios, almost giving us too much as he
challenges barriers within cultures and creative genres, but ultimately,
through art and new media, we and the artist are able to find a common
ground.
Review
By Rebecca Harris |
