Neil Clements : Paranoid
Taking romanticised modes of production as a starting point, Neil Clements draws out a sense of fatalism inseparable from the idea of a purely formal artwork. The collapse of abstract painting as a viable philosophical model in the middle of the 20th century is often contextualised by a musical analogue in order to investigate the superstition underlying the employment of an art object as a vessel for idealism.
A dedication to teenage influences, ‘Paranoid’ is an investigation into the similarities between Op Art and psychedelic record sleeve design. Documentation of Op Art’s unwitting marriage to fashion- aptly demonstrated by photographs of artists Bridget Riley and Tess Jaray posed as glamorous accessories to their paintings- is utilised in order to analyse this contamination of a studio-based enquiry by other cultural elements. A distended version of Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ is presented as the soundtrack to paintings that work together to create an alternative narrative through the deliberate confusion of musical and artistic sources. Approx 130 visitors.
The Fridge Gallery
Saturday 14th - 29th April 2007
