Catherine Yass
25 June–4 September 2011
Galleries 1 and 2
Bexhill on Sea
East Sussex TN40 1DP
United Kingdom
The De La Warr Pavilion presents recent and new works by Catherine Yass, a leading British contemporary photographer and film-maker.
The new film commission Lighthouse is of the Royal Sovereign Lighthouse situated five miles out to sea, just visible from the Pavilion and void of human occupation. Yass is fascinated by the structure of the lighthouse, balanced precariously on the corner of a square platform, which is in turn balanced on a single concrete post. To the viewer, the platform appears top-heavy as though it might topple over at any moment. Lighthouse reflects the seemingly hazardous nature of the structure as the camera slowly moves up, down and around the platform and into the sea, making it appear to be moving or falling. The resulting film is exciting but unnerving, giving the viewer a sense of disorientation and instability.
The exhibition includes two other films employing similar techniques. Descent (2002) takes the viewer very slowly down by a camera lowered by a crane on the side of a high rise structure in Canary Wharf construction site. Every frame is rotated by 180 degrees, which inverts our sense of gravity; as if we might crash into the ground. Lock (2006) is filmed from a barge on its passage through the gates of a lock on the Yangtze River, a colossal structure which has been a subject of political and economic controversy since it was built.
The exhibition also includes two recent series of lightboxes using a particular device of overlaying negative image over the positive transparency. This superimposition together with fluorescent light from the lightbox gives electric colours resulting in ethereal, psychologically charged spaces. Sleep is a series of ten, exploring the places the mind goes to whilst in sleep or daydreaming, while Decommissioned, a series of five, is set in the empty space of a car showroom due for demolition.
Catherine Yass (b. London, UK, 1963) trained at the Slade School of Art, London, the Hochschüle der Künste, Berlin, and Goldsmiths College, London. Important recent solo exhibitions include High Wire (commissioned by Artangel and Gi Festival, exhibition Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, and The Gymnaseum, London, 2008); Descent (St. Louis Art Museum, MO, 2009); and The China Series (Stedelijk Museum, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands). Public collections include the V&A, Tate and Arts Council Collection. She lives and works in London and is represented by Alison Jacques Gallery.
Listings
Galleries 1 and 2
De La Warr Pavilion
Bexhill on Sea
East Sussex TN40 1DP
United Kingdom
25 June–4 September
Open every day 10am–6pm
Admission Free
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The De La Warr Pavilion is a Modernist icon for the contemporary arts on the sea front in Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex, United Kingdom.
The De La Warr Pavilion Charitable Trust, Charity No. 1065585, Registered office, Bexhill on Sea, TN40 1DP Co No 3446307
