MOT
Unit
54/5th floor Regents Studios
8 Andrews Road London E8 4QN
t +44 (0)7931 305 104
e motlondon@yahoo.co.uk
Open Fri, Sat, Sun 12-5 or by appointment
Bethnal Green Underground Bus 394,106,253,26,48,55,D6, D3, 8
FUN
7th March - 30th March 2003
A little boy stands at the gate swaying backwards and forwards, an inane
grin spreads across his face and he
is chanting something under his breath. As we approach nearer the word
that he is chanting becomes audible;
FUN,
FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN, FUN…
Floyd
Varey has had a revelation, while looking at the only surviving still
life by Caravagio that hangs in
the Ambrosia Library in Milan, he discovered that the fruit and basket
depicted in the painting had been
arranged into the shape of a severed boar's head. He searched for anything
that might have been written
about the painting, but found no mention of the hidden boar. Confident
of the originality of his discovery
Varey had a rebirth in his faith for painting and a realisation that the
consuming of art and the
production of art were two very different things. The seeds of an exhibition
had been sowed in Floyd's mind.
He would share his discovery with the world and create an exhibition and
call it Fun.
Although
Varey considers himself to be a painter, he tends to make art out of anything
that comes to hand.
Most of his work operates within a picture frame and is not usually sculptural.
It often references other
paintings but the language has been thoroughly bastardised along the way.
Canvas is often replaced by
anything from blankets to roller blinds. Paint is joined by an assortment
of different objects, that
Floyd claims find him and each other, sometimes sitting around his studio
for years before suggesting
themselves to their final juxtaposition. One of the most interesting things
about Varey is that almost
every painting that he makes is completely different from each other,
in style, medium and even
down to the construction of the painting support. It is painting's insistence
of conforming to schools,
style and series, usually at the behest of the market, which has played
a prominent part in its demise. Young
painters such as Floyd Varey are re-lighting the fires from the smouldering
coals.
As
you enter MOT you will be greeted by MY ELECTRIC MONKEY, a painting of
a pissing monkey covered in
beard trimmings. Facing you will be a transcription of Titian's DEPOSIZIONE
NEL SELPOLCRO rendered in
stickers. On turning you will see FAMOUS ARTISTS, a painting of a poster
bearing the same name that Floyd
has updated with cartoon eyes and stickers. As if this wasn't enough,
plunging out of the giant pale blue
ground of stretched sheet, right towards you is an old toy Wilie Coyote,
just like the ones that used to be
strapped to the front of dust trucks. If you manage to make it out of
this fun fair then you may notice a
projected fyling saucer shape hovering above you on a large linen covered
stretcher.
You
may feel tears welling in your eyes. Belly laughs may force you into contractions.
You might even have Fun.
That's
all folks.
Private view Thursday 6th March 6 pm - 9pm
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