JAMIE LAMBIE – ANSWER MACHINE
2014-07-21Jim Lambie brings together an array of new works which interweave elements of sculpture, painting and installation. Diverse in scale and ranging in media, they extend the artist’s long-term use of found objects as catalysts for sensuous studies in colour, form and materiality. Music remains a pervasive influence in Lambie’s art. It is reflected both in his raw materials and his works’ dynamic shifts in mood and medium. In three paintings, he has
plugged lengths of electrical cable into the works’ surfaces. They trail onto the floor in multi-coloured cascades, as if the streaming rivulets of a Morris Louis painting have taken on physical form. The high-gloss paintwork meanwhile incorporates paint-drenched sections of men’s shirts and trousers.
In both cases, the language of painterly abstraction merges with the lowly aesthetic of Italian arte povera – resulting in works that are both literal and exuberantly lyrical. Suspended the middle of the gallery, Ultratheque (Poppers remix) comprises a cluster of fine chains made from interlocking safety pins. These terminate at either end with a designer shoe, and have been threaded with multiple pairs of sunglasses using gaffer tape. Seemingly bouncing off the floor and ceiling, the glittering pendants recall the space’s origins as a nightclub, evoking the shimmer and energy of a dance floor. The motley contents and seductive surfaces of Ultratheque (Poppers remix) find a parallel in an installation of eight ladders faced with tinted mirrors. Leaning at different angles against the wall, they reflect the struts of the pitched ceiling, a nod to their lost function.
Exhibition runs through to August 16th, 2014
Sadie Coles HQ
62 Kingly Street
W1B 5QN
London
