At This Point

About

This exhibition comprises recent work of London-based artist Archie Fooks. His works tend to be humorous and playful as he seeks to poke fun at the mundane and the everyday. He is interested in the relationship between the authentic and the counterfeit, and how we often assume things to be the case when they are not. In essence, the ideas and deeper meanings behind his works are cleverly presented through a language of punchline and comedic tension in order to make his viewer laugh. This results in an assessment, or analysis, which in turn creates a systematic element to poking fun. Additionally, Fooks seeks to incorporate emotion and sentimentality in his work. Many of his more recent pieces therefore hold a more personal tone that allows for reflection and story telling.

These ideas are brought together through drawing, installation and photography. The way he presents his ideas, and the processes behind each of these mediums, differs greatly, but there is a dialogue which runs through them. For example, he uses drawing to further the development of his installation, and vice versa, and the photography acts as a way to see already existing works in different contexts. In this way, the exhibition will reveal much about the process behind his works, and the interchangeability of various mediums in order to reach something better, or simply funnier.​

Tom Butler, poet, will perform a monologue interacting with Fooks's works. Butler's writing evokes a gritty realism; it is hard observation of you, him, and the objects around him. Playwright Laurence Vardaxoglou has written a monologue which focuses on the young artist and their position within society; it is a performance which flirts with an alternative reality where the audience become characters in the protagonist's world.

The first of our Pocket Interview Series will be available at the exhibition, which breaks the norm of standard press release and exhibition leaflet. It comprises a published transcript of a conversation between Finlay Abbott Ellwood, Kobby Adi, Elsa Gray, Alex Vardaxoglou, and Archie Fooks, about the latter’s work, and will allow you to understand further the processes and ideas behind his work in a less formal way.