Taus Makhacheva: Hold Your Horses

About

With Super Taus, Superhero Sighting Society and The Unbound 

"Imagine unclimbed mountains surrounded by voices; accounts of superhero sightings. Imagine the landscape of a tireless traveller, and attempts to move large volumes of rock (real and imaginary) with the help of winds, daydreaming and bare hands. Hold your horses."

Hold Your Horses speaks to the traditions of history-making and the experience of everyday life. Makhacheva's position isn't nostalgic; instead she creates stories and even superheroes through a playful process of mixing, borrowing and assimilation. Often drawing from daily life in Dagestan and the Caucasus region of Russia, Makhacheva reflects on the day-to-day rituals, celebrations and instances of everyday heroism with a playful and humorous tone.

Central to the exhibition will be Superhero Sighting Society, 2019 to be installed in The Tetley's atrium. Commissioned by KADIST Foundation, Paris, and supported by narrative projects, London, the work presents a cacophony of voices resonating within a mountain-scape, and recalling sightings of various superheroes. These are not the fantastic superheroes we see in films or comic books, but instead are figures that tackle daily injustices and the loss of small worlds, such as a bookstore disappearing, or a gallery shutting down.

The exhibition will also feature ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) Spa, 2018, commissioned for Liverpool Biennial 2018. Visitors will be invited to book a 30 minute Sculptural Signature Facial conducted by a performer. Each treatment brings the subject into close proximity with the materiality of artworks through ingredients in the cosmetic products used, and poses the question of what it means to be a restorer, or to be restored.

Bookable dates for ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) Spa. 

Sunday 16 February, 30 minutes, £15:  click here.

Wednesday 25 March, 30 minutes, £15:  click here.

The exhibition is presented in partnership with Liverpool Biennial and supported with National Lottery funding through Arts Council England's Strategic Touring fund. With thanks to narrative projects, London.

Taus Makhacheva, Endeavour, Dagestan, 2010. Courtesy of the artist.

Sabih Ahmed, Taus Makhacheva, Superhero Sighting Society, Paris, 2019. Mixed media installation, audio. Commissioned by KADIST Foundation. Supported by narrative projects, London. Photo Aurélien Mole.