PRESS RELEASE
ICONOCLASTS: ART OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM
27 September 2017 – 7 January 2018 (extended to 6 March 2018)
Corvid, 2011, Kate MccGwire - Photo: Tessa Angus
Saatchi Gallery presents ICONOCLASTS: ART OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM, a major new exhibition featuring the work of Maurizio Anzeri, Matthew Chambers, Daniel Crews-Chubb, Josh Faught, Aaron Fowler, Danny Fox, Makiko Kudo, Dale Lewis, Thomas Mailaender, Kate MccGwire, Renee So, Douglas White and Alexi Williams-Wynn.
Iconoclasts explores the experimental and often transformational practices of a small group of groundbreaking artists, inviting us to engage anew with what modern day iconoclasm might be. By using a myriad of unusual image-making practices - from branding imagery onto human skin to sculpting curving structures out of crow feathers - these artists are breaking the mould, ushering in a new age of artistic defiance through their resistance of typical artistic processes and their personal interpretations of cultural mores.
As an act, iconoclasm historically holds both religious and progressive connotations. However, 21st century culture has eroded the radicalism of this concept, and artists are now questioning the intrinsic nature of iconoclasm itself by scrutinizing what defines a work of art.
While this group cannot be described as iconoclasts in the traditional sense of the word, they are all driven by an iconoclastic urge, which manifests itself in the intriguingly diverse and often destructive ways they produce art. A startling number of materials and techniques cohabit in one exhibition, where abstraction, figuration, creation and deconstruction combine.
At a time when the very notion of iconoclasm has seemingly become mainstream, Iconoclasts brings together the work of thirteen distinct contemporary figures, seeking to examine what it means to be an iconoclast today.
ICONOCLASTS: ART OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM
Saatchi Gallery | Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, London, SW3 4RY, UK
27 September 2017 – 7 January 2018 (extended to 6 March 2018)
Entry to the exhibition is free.
Thank you to everyone who came to the private view on the 26th September, the gallery had over 1,800 visitors during the course of the evening so it was a bit of a whirlwind on the night! Photo © Piers Allardyce, 2017.