HEROES & VILLAINS
An exhibition by Magnus Irvin
Prints, Cardboard sculptures, Chocolate anuses, and a Belisha beacon.

June 6th- July 6th 2003

the 5A Gallery
Gransden Ave
London E8 3QA
btwn London Fields + Mare St.
gallery hours: 12- 6pm

Tel: 02089863077/ 02085336856
email: gallery5a@hotmail.com

REVIEW:

Heroes & Villains is an exhibition of work by Magnus Irvin currently on show at the 5a gallery (until 6th July). The exhibition takes it's title from a recent series of 7 Peizo pigment prints in which the artist extends the conventions of self-portraiture by portraying himself as other people and objects. Hero or Villain?

Every work is surrounded with laughter, and all deserve applause.
One can't help notice the theatrical feel in his practice. On show is the 'Face Theatre', a cinema for one person. The viewer is seated alone in an auditorium, (complete with lights, circle and balconies). The film is 'Face to Face'.

Irvin works in different mediums and uses film, cardboard, chocolate, belisha beacons, and bananas. His Ectoplasmic Apparitions are exceptional photographs created with a technique that has never been seen before. For 25 years he has edited and printed a ridiculous newspaper, The Daily Twit, whose only editorial policy is, "if it makes sense we won't publish it."

Magnus was a co-founder of City Studios Artists' Group in London in
1995.

He is also a founder member of the London Institute of Pataphysics and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter- Printmakers. Magnus's work is a category of it's own, fused with originality and new ideas. Acknowledging an art-historical debt, Magnus Irvin is exhibiting homage’s to the artists Bill Brandt, Barry Flanagan, and Katsushika Hokusai.

written by Grace Giardina

email - grace@artshole.co.uk