Bowieart.com and KCFA are pleased to introduce Michael Samuels, the first of six artists given the opportunity to transform the Tardis window set in Turnmill Street, EC1.
The window space on Turnmill Street gives the artists involved an opportunity to exhibit their work in an environment independent of a gallery setting, which will attract not only the attention of the art world but passers-by who may not normally go looking for art. Set within a brick façade alongside Farringdon Station, the window is on a street that sees a procession of commuters trek past by day and similar volumes of people with different intentions by night. Planning to change the backdrop to this, the artists involved find themselves bringing into question notions of the city, its urban landscape and consumerism.
Samuels?s work will operate on a level appropriate to its accessibility from the street and for this reason is a fitting choice of artist to launch the Bowieart window project.
Michael Samuels sculptures move between notions of the city and the experiences of urban living. The artist uses objects and models of thought familiar to the city dweller but in a cynical and often ambiguous twist that gives them a new life. Notions of Utopia, which may have been present in Michael?s earlier work, have given way to apocalyptic views of the city.
The artist?s first work is a new piece entitled Button-Pusher; a James Bond style suitcase bomb that displays a large LED timer that will provide a countdown for the duration of the show. This work questions anonymity within the city ? the ability to move around almost anywhere without suspicion. The work is motivated by many events ? vigilantes, the home terror inflicted in London during 1999, the rise of Militia in the USA?In the internet age the easy access to all kinds of information can be devastating.
In his second piece for the Tardis Michael presents a highly finished, beautifully made work that echoes the veneer used in advertising. Across a bright red airship runs a message in LED lights?the world is yours?the world is yours?the world is yours?seducing the viewer in a similar manner to the marketing campaigns we are bombarded with daily. Watched My Ship In, Watched Her Sail Away references the film Scarface; offering a cynical statement about not believing everything we see.
Michael Samuels graduated from The Royal College of Art last year, he was recently included in The Younger Generation at Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, he has shown at the Pump House, Phusion and Assembly, Stepney City. In 1995 his work was seen at the Venice Biennale.
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Michael Samuels opens 18 June and runs till 13 July 2001 Series runs till November 2001
Tardis Studios, 52-56 Turnmill Street, London, EC1