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The 1000 Yard Stare
(solo show)
Preview 21 Sept 2007, 7-9pm
This Autumn Gordon Cheung – emerging star of the British
contemporary art scene – will be showing new and recent
works at aspex.
"A grunt gets it when he's been in the shit too
long," and that "it's like you're really seeing
beyond."
(Payback and Stars and Stripes photographer Rafterman explaining
the 1000 yard stare – ‘Full Metal Jacket’
directed by Stanley Kubrick 1987)
The 1000 Yard Stare is a battlefield syndrome term referring
to the combat stressed gaze of front line soldiers that gave
one the impression that they were ever watchful out to the
1000 yard line as that was considered to be the extent of
the danger zone. Later for American troops it was sometimes
used, with a different intonation, to describe the vacant
expression on the face of dope-heads just serving out their
time.
Cheung’s super-real paintings capture psychedelic hallucinations
between the virtual and actual realities of our globalised
world reflecting how we entered the new millenium with one
threatening wave of apocalypse after another harshly underlined
by the 9/11 attacks, a global ‘War on Terror’
while the world also grappled with it’s fragile relationship
to nature itself.
Cheung’s work is a poetic and disturbing reflection
of the drama and trauma of contemporary life. Working with
spray-paint, oils, arylics, pastels, pages of the Financial
Times stock listings and ink he also makes references to popular
culture such as cartoon characters and cinematic scenes appearing
alongside images from mythology, iconic paintings, magazines
and the internet.
In The 1000 Yard Stare Cheung will be showing a series of
works from 2005 which include pieces such as Colliderscape
14 where FT print of the stock listings are overflowing a
waterfall into a chasm, optimism brought into this dystopian
scene in the form of a rainbow. Aspex has also commissioned
Cheung to make a new work, on a military theme, incorporating
1950’s images of US staff watching nuclearr testing.
As he describes it “people watching the Apocalypse”.
British born Chinese, Gordon Cheung’s parents moved
from Hong kong to London in the 1960’s. Born in 1975,
he studied at Central Saint Martins and the Royal College
of Art. He exhibits internatinally and was in the largest
and most ambitious survey of recent developments in art from
the UK: The British Art Show 6. Nominated for the Laing solo
award Gordon Cheung will be exhibiting newly commissioned
work in his solo show at the Laing Art Gallery July 2007.
Associated events:
Gordon Cheung Gallery Talk
Friday 5 Oct, 6.30pm
The artist will talk about the works included in The 1000
Yard Stare and his practice to date.
Admission FREE but places are limited so m ust be booked in
advance.
Artist’s Supper with Gordon Cheung
Held in aspex café, this informal two-course supper
will be hosted by artist Gordon Cheung. Attendees will have
an opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the
exhibition direct from the artist. A welcome glass of champagne
will be served on arrival but guests are asked to bring their
own wine.
Tickets £15, please call 023 9277 8080 to book or email
info@aspex.org.uk
For more press information please contact Jo at Joanna Scott
PR, 01243 267977 or jo@joannascott.co.uk
Aspex
The Vulcan Building
Gunwharf Quays
Portsmouth
PO1 3BF
t: 023 9277 8080
e:info@aspex.org.uk
www.aspex.org.uk
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