3am eternal

Alexandre Pollazzon Ltd is pleased to announce the exhibition ‘3AM Eternal’ in collaboration with SuperSteve, aka Steve Slocombe, Director, Publisher of SuperSuper magazine.

'3 a.m. Eternal' addresses the experience of nightclubbing and presents a series of contemporary artistic strategies to reveal the hidden and previously undocumented influence of club culture on a selection of contemporary artists and their practice. This context aims to augment the viewers' existing understanding and reading of the works that are exhibited.

Nightclubbing is ‘the triumph of imaginative life, the exhilaration of collective experience, the inversion of social roles, the supremacy of the present’ (Peter Braunstein, ‘Disco’, in American Heritage Magazine, November 1999).

The exhibition at Alexandre Pollazzon Ltd brings together documentation relating to various London nightclub scenes and works that give an impression of that experience - an attempt to explore the more ethereal, and the romantic aspect of club culture (as opposed to the literal and immediately obvious themes such as dancing and music).

Within the gallery, the carefully sculpted ceramic busts by Renee So and the subtle protagonists in the theatrical drawings by Donna Huddleston evoke sophistication and dandyism.

Whereas eccentricity, mirage and freakiness are echoed in a life size sculpture entirely made of black hair by Maurizio Anzeri; in the flamboyant collages by Jay Cloth, sourced from eclectic and varied publications and promotional material; in the paintings by Andreas Dobler and drawings by Ricky Swallow giving us a sense of fantasy; in a new floor installation made of objects, drawings and video evoking nightclub bathrooms by Julie Verhoeven; and in Ali Kepenek’s wall installation that comprises thirty close-up photographic shots capturin intimate and sneering expressions of a young man, taken within the twilight hours.

A life size ‘Booby Tuesday’ doll made in collaboration by Lee Benjamin (Leigh Bowery tailor/craftsman/designer) and Stefan Knight (night life performer and make up artist), drawings of Barbie by Ellen Cantor, a saturated colored picture of Little Richard by Mark Leckey, embroidered old photographi

c portraits by Maurizio Anzeri and the Femme Fatales by Kirsten Glass recall glitz, glamour and make up. Reality is back with the photographs of fabulous nightclubbers by Billa and Nan Goldin and the photographic recollection of dazzling flyers by Conrad Ventur; memorabilia and accessories by Horse Meat Disco (disco Dj Kings of Vauxhall Jim Staton and James Hillard), Disco sensations all summarized in a poetic photographic diptych by Wolfgang Tillmans. Finally the vintage embroidered cushions and fabric sculptures by Vidya Gastaldon in collaboration with Jean-Michel Wicker, design an ethereal and chill out space.

'3 a.m. Eternal' a reference to the signature tune by the music anarchists KLF, questions whether an exhibition can generate in the viewer, some of the positive emotions they might feel when participating in a particularly exciting club moment – only in a white cube space sans DJ, music and crowd.

3am eternal

Künstler: Maurizio Anzeri, Lee Benjamin/Stefan Knight, Billa, Ellen Cantor, Jay Cloth, Andreas Dobler, Kirsten Glass, Vidya Gastaldon/Jean-Michel Wicker, Nan Goldin, Donna Huddleston, Ali Kepenek, Mark Leckey, Renee So, Supersteve  aka Steve Slocombe (SuperSuper magazine), Ricky Swallow, Wolfgang Tillmans, Conrad Ventur, Julie Verhoeven, Horse Meat Disco & Special Guests Tba …