18TH MARCH- 14TH MAY 2017
DOYLE AND MALLINSON
Sons Of Austerity
The Tramp or Vagrant is often employed in Art, Literature and Philosophy to serve a multifarious purpose. From Diogenes's eschewing of contemporary social values by shining a light on a corrupt and confused society to Chaplins tragi-comic Tramp that embraces the fool as a means of social commentary with the dual need for freedom and respectability. In Wordsworths Prelude the Tramp is even used as a symbol of over indulgence in the glamorous pageant of London life.
The Tramp is complex- often depicted as a pitiful figure; a person ostracised- provoking not only disgust but also envy and admiration for their perceived autonomy. LVL Davie argues in his thesis The Tramp in British Interwar Literature that the Tramp 'evolved out of the Vagabond in response to Industrialism' He continues: 'I propose the idea that the Tramp symbolically denotes resistance to the goal driven logic of capitalism as well as normative values that provide a supportive framework for growth within disciplinarian society'.
Sons of Austerity is a new body of sculptural work based on cheap copies of Capo de Monte Tramp figurines displaying many of the characteristics of the romanticised and idealised vagrant with threadbare clothes and gnarled hands clutching at bottles of booze. Why such Figurines depicting homelessness and poverty should become popular ornaments is difficult to discern.
Whether they are a reminder of how quickly circumstances can change or a stark warning of the perils of arrogance and delusions of grandeur is unclear. Should we instead take Davies' proposition and reimagine them as symbols of dissent or revolt?
Sons of Austerity extends themes explored in previous bodies of work, the use of inferior copies as a form of sculptural Chinese whispers finds parallel in online translation sites as employed in Wash Your Mouth Out 2013, New Art Gallery, Wallsall. Works involving souvenirs and ornament include Black Forest Ghetto 2006,Galerie Nostheide-Eicke, Dusseldorf, and King Tat 2005, John Hansard Gallery. By Enlarging the original ceramics the ornament becomes monument and to emphasise the monumentality, the pieces are inscribed with Latin transcriptions of supermarket slogans- a sardonic legend indicative of the wastefulness of modern society; a proposition for alternative public sculpture to replace some of the statues of dubious public figures that adorn our civic spaces.
Shaun Doyle (b.1968) and Mally Mallinson (b.1970) have exhibited internationally at institutions including Whitechapel Gallery London Open 20012 and Tate Britain, Rude Britannia 2010 and are the 2016 winners of the Dover prize. Solo shows include Galerie Nostheide-Eicke, Germany, The Dogs Dinner 2013; Venlo Stadhuis NL Ecce Homo Erectus 2008 and MOT International, Peristroma Dolorosa 2005. Shortlisted in the Artangel 100 in 2013 and featured on the Culture Show in 2010 for their Fascist Fruit Boys in Tate Britains Rude Britannia, their work, including earlier solo projects is in Public and Private collections including Saatchi Gallery, London and Odapark Centrum boor Hedendaagse Kunst, Venray NL. Doyle and Mallinson are represented by Paul Stolper, London.
18TH MARCH- 14TH MAY 2017
DOYLE AND MALLINSON
Sons Of Austerity
The Tramp or Vagrant is often employed in Art, Literature and Philosophy to serve a multifarious purpose. From Diogenes's eschewing of contemporary social values by shining a light on a corrupt and confused society to Chaplins tragi-comic Tramp that embraces the fool as a means of social commentary with the dual need for freedom and respectability. In Wordsworths Prelude the Tramp is even used as a symbol of over indulgence in the glamorous pageant of London life.
The Tramp is complex- often depicted as a pitiful figure; a person ostracised- provoking not only disgust but also envy and admiration for their perceived autonomy. LVL Davie argues in his thesis The Tramp in British Interwar Literature that the Tramp 'evolved out of the Vagabond in response to Industrialism' He continues: 'I propose the idea that the Tramp symbolically denotes resistance to the goal driven logic of capitalism as well as normative values that provide a supportive framework for growth within disciplinarian society'.
Sons of Austerity is a new body of sculptural work based on cheap copies of Capo de Monte Tramp figurines displaying many of the characteristics of the romanticised and idealised vagrant with threadbare clothes and gnarled hands clutching at bottles of booze. Why such Figurines depicting homelessness and poverty should become popular ornaments is difficult to discern.
Whether they are a reminder of how quickly circumstances can change or a stark warning of the perils of arrogance and delusions of grandeur is unclear. Should we instead take Davies' proposition and reimagine them as symbols of dissent or revolt?
Sons of Austerity extends themes explored in previous bodies of work, the use of inferior copies as a form of sculptural Chinese whispers finds parallel in online translation sites as employed in Wash Your Mouth Out 2013, New Art Gallery, Wallsall. Works involving souvenirs and ornament include Black Forest Ghetto 2006,Galerie Nostheide-Eicke, Dusseldorf, and King Tat 2005, John Hansard Gallery. By Enlarging the original ceramics the ornament becomes monument and to emphasise the monumentality, the pieces are inscribed with Latin transcriptions of supermarket slogans- a sardonic legend indicative of the wastefulness of modern society; a proposition for alternative public sculpture to replace some of the statues of dubious public figures that adorn our civic spaces.
Shaun Doyle (b.1968) and Mally Mallinson (b.1970) have exhibited internationally at institutions including Whitechapel Gallery London Open 20012 and Tate Britain, Rude Britannia 2010 and are the 2016 winners of the Dover prize. Solo shows include Galerie Nostheide-Eicke, Germany, The Dogs Dinner 2013; Venlo Stadhuis NL Ecce Homo Erectus 2008 and MOT International, Peristroma Dolorosa 2005. Shortlisted in the Artangel 100 in 2013 and featured on the Culture Show in 2010 for their Fascist Fruit Boys in Tate Britains Rude Britannia, their work, including earlier solo projects is in Public and Private collections including Saatchi Gallery, London and Odapark Centrum boor Hedendaagse Kunst, Venray NL. Doyle and Mallinson are represented by Paul Stolper, London.