Keil shows us Liberty as a site where the galvanisation of this ideology is exceptionally evident. The ideas sold about freedom in contemporary living constitute a deceptive ideology: ostensibly defined as the increase in flexibility, our lives mainly manifest as precarious and alienated, despite how much money we might accumulate. (2014) Project Native Informant exhibition view. One answer is conspicuous in its absence, there’s simply blank space in response to, “Do you have a social art practice or a formal art practice?” Morag Keil, L.I.B.E.R.T.Y. They discuss Keil’s recent work, as well as her approaches and ideas on the art world and the state of contemporary living. Titled Can you live in art? it’s conducted in a 20-questions format, like an unedited magazine lifestyle interview, informal but professional. Arranged like in a waiting room they hold copies of the exhibition text – an interview with Keil by Harry Burke. In the corner of the gallery are two Windsor chairs painted with copper paint and splashed green with oxidation. We are trapped outside, inside, with no way to access what’s behind the walls. We’re suddenly enclosed within a form that suggests an exterior – the facade of Liberty is wherever you look.
It’s a slightly disorientating experience, the framing exists as a relief whilst shifting the reading of the entire space with its specificity. Each wall is decorated with strips of black half-timbering – appropriately treated, carefully cut and professionally attached. Morag Keil has transposed the mock Tudor facade of the department store into the gallery. Sitting somewhere between couture and high-end high street, it caters to a particular strata of the rich. The Liberty building on Great Marlborough Street is itself an iconic location – built in the 1920s in a Tudor revival style it’s an instantly recognisable building, and a London shopping landmark. It has a history of working with notable designers like William Morris and Archibald Knox, and has been an important site for the advancement of design in the UK. Opened in 1875 by Arthur Lasenby Liberty, over the past 140 years it has become a global household name, selling high-end homeware and fashion brands alongside its own-brand products. Ten minutes walk from Project Native Informant’s converted garage project space in Mayfair is luxury department store Liberty.
0 kommentar(er)
