About
Edel Assanti and 20 Projects are pleased to present Metamorphoses. This exhibition brings together for the first time the work of Ann-Marie James and Alex Hoda, two artists whose disparate practices share in an exploration of visual portrayals of metamorphosis, transformation and the associative potential of artistic meaning.
Building on her technique of employing appropriation to explore the canon of art history, James' new series of paintings owe thematic inspiration to the myth of Apollo and Daphne. The paintings' individual titles are direct quotations from varying translations of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Pictorially, the works present an intersection of multiple silk screens of drawings by James based on Bernini's eponymous sculpture. Working primarily within subtle grayscales, James applies intricate washes to draw out details of the original sketches, insinuating organic and corporal forms in a state of constant flux and transmutation.
Departing from earlier works in which toys, rubber and latex are used to conjure explicit and aesthetically jarring sculptures, Alex Hoda's new works are at once less literal and more figurative. These sculptures, moulded from the alchemically associated metals of copper, neurocon, zinc and steel, amorphously reference the texture and form of flesh, muscle and of tree roots, whilst seemingly possessing an autonomous air of the living and breathing.
Both Hoda and James' works exude a visceral, sexual aura, gaining compositional and intellectual elegance from their ability to transiently evade a fixed interpretation, retaining a fluid field of associative representation.
Ann-Marie James completed a BA at Central Saint Martins in 2004, a Postgraduate Diploma at Chelsea College of Art & Design in 2010 and is currently undertaking an MA at Wimbledon College of Art. James exhibits internationally; recent solo shows include Edel Assanti in 2010, and the Soho Art Gallery in Osaka, Japan in 2011, and her work was recently included in âYoung British Artist II', curated by Ryan Gander & Christina von Rotenhan at Dienstgebaude, Zürich.
Alex Hoda graduated Wimbledon College of Art in 2000, completing subsequent studies at Goldsmiths and the Royal Academy in 2003 and 2008 respectively. Previous exhibitions include âType 1 Errors' at 20 Hoxton Square Projects, Berlin in 2011, the Royal British Sculpture Society, London, âAnticipation' at Selfridges, âThe Future Can Wait' at Truman Brewery, and âWho's On Second' at Pumphouse Gallery. Hoda's work was included in Saatchi Gallery's âNewspeak: British Art Now' in 2009, and features in both the Saatchi Collection and The David Roberts Art Foundation.
