The Solar Anus

The Solar Anus
28th May – 3rd July 2004
Preview: Thursday 27th 6.30-9.00pm

- Terry Atkinson
- Paul Butler
- Sam Herbert
- Michael Jackson
- Peter Kennard
- Kev Rice
- Calanit Schachner
- Dave Smith and Chris Tosic
- Jemima Stehli
- Amikam Toren
- Emily Wolfe
- Text by John Miller

‘Everyone is aware that life is parodic and that it lacks an interpretation.’ - (The Solar Anus)

The Solar Anus is a show of twelve artists' work. All the works are wall based. The title of the show is taken from an essay of the same name by Georges Bataille, written in 1927. All the work could, in one way or another be described as 'representational'.

What a representation bears upon, "an abandoned shoe", "the smell of rotten eggs", or whatever, it is the 'real' thing that is the epicentre. The representation is the family friendly version of an earthquake, all polystyrene highways and waxwork corpses. All the works in the show are analogous to the world they refer/belong to. Bataille invites us to imagine that "all things would be visibly connected if one could discover at a single glance and in its totality the tracings of an Ariadne's thread leading thought into its own labyrinth." He describes the world as "purely parodic". In this sense all the works in the show are linked by a copula to each other, as well as the world outside of the gallery. Art enjoys no immunity in this respect.

The connection between this show and the original essay, apart from the title, is all the work will be looked at by some people who have read part, all, or none of the essay. Bataille's essay in this context has been, not so much grafted on to these artefacts, as nudged in their general direction. There is no intention to push these artefacts into alcoves they were never intended to go. Artworks need no assistance getting into alcoves they were not intended for. In this respect, they manage very well on their own. None of the artworks specifically relate to or derive from the content of the essay. They all stand alone, maintain their physical presence and hold their own power in relation to the viewer.

This is a group of heterogeneous artworks, united arbitrarily through subjective intuition. This show is intended to function as an example of the fact that: all things have as many factors in common as they do not. And 'art' objects, curatorial decisions and the like are aleatory, and their production induces in reality a severe loss of meaning.

Gallery open Wed-Sat 12-6pm or by appointment
For images and further details please contact Harriet Warden at the gallery

Henry Peacock Gallery
38a Foley Street
London
W1P 7LB