Cover Versions

An Exhibition at the Vortex Jazz Club Downstairs 

15 June - 2 September 2012

There is an interchange between art objects and the spaces in which they are situated. The traditional white cube spaces of galleries and museums wear a mantle of neutrality, disguising the fact that such sites are riddled through with ideological associations and value laden assumptions; auras that confer authority on the work itself. The presence of art objects outside of the white cube reminds us that art exists in a variety of social contexts where it takes on different meanings. I have chosen this setting because of its obvious connection to the jazz world and its music. As a music art form that existed outside of official culture and its sacred spaces: clubs; bars and pubs were natural settings and these were not places imbued with cultural authority, but they were often transgressive spaces. While the paintings evoke nostalgia they are not simply a celebration of the past but inextricably bound to narratives about popular culture and the social values of the time, production and consumption. In the same way the album covers once brought artist, musician and music together, my aim is to bring together the art, the space and the emotion of seeing them now. 


Cover Versions opens Friday 15th June at The Vortex Downstairs, 11 Gillett Square, N16 8AZ (Free)