| Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens | November 2 – December 21, 2012 |
For their exhibition at G Gallery, Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens present works that share a common concern with bringing abstract systems to materiality, particularly as they are confronted with the human body. Through a combination of archival research, diagrammatic drawings, sculpture and performance, the works explore non-goal oriented action and counter-productivity a tactics for subverting the economisation of life.
A pivotal piece in the exhibition is a new video work consisting of a series of performances realized in an empty office building in Glasgow. Centred on the intricate alliance between the body (labour, manpower) and the soul (affects, language) in post-industrial economies, Real failure needs no excuse (2012) explores the transgressive potential of non-productive action and its relation to labour, work and invention.
By literalizing metaphors like ‘equilibrium’ and ‘balance,’ Models for the Monologue of Reason (2011), a series of small sculptural pieces produced with household materials, renders scientific forms into makeshift models while The Revolutions of Capitalism(2011) uses diagrammatic drawing to underscore how familiar structures – from express-lane supermarket checkouts to airport security – shape not only our way of moving and doing things but our relationship with spaces and objects.
Other works in the exhibition open up the idea of what research can be, approaching it as a performative act in itself while also examining the possibilities for movement to initiate a collective process of physical, intellectual and political transformation.
The title of the exhibition is taken from the 1930s jazz standard Body and Soul, written by Johnny Green and made famous by Billy Holiday, amongst others.
Richard Ibghy &Marilou Lemmens are based in Durham-Sud, Quebec. Their work has been presented at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow; the 10th Sharjah Biennial, UAE; Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver; the European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany; and Trafó, House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest. Recent solo exhibitions include Monte Vista Projects, Los Angeles (2012); 221a, Vancouver (2012); and Galleria Alkovi, Helsinki (2011). Their artistic projects and writings have been published in Le Merle, C-magazine, New Social Inquiry, and Pyramid Power. Their first book, Tools that Measure the Intensity of Passionate Interests was published by Horse and Sparrow Editions in collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, and Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto, in 2012.
