London's historic Curzon cinema in Mayfair, famed for its palatial boxes and alternative programming, is the focus of a new exhibition at the West End's Marlborough Contemporary gallery.
Liverpool-born visual artist Laurence Kavanagh worked in-situ at the Curzon, taking surface rubbings from its board-formed concrete walls and repurposing them for a new series of collages. In doing so, he comments upon how the 'architecture and atmosphere' of the cinema plays into our impression of the film on show.
'A cinema is a building created to house the projections of our inner psyche onto a screen,' Kavanagh tells Wallpaper*. 'It represents the constructed relationship between the real and the imagined.' By using physical traces and residues of the building, Kavanagh celebrates these carefully curated surroundings, and places them centre stage. He delicately layers one cast upon another, creating theatrical 3D impressions.
Each layer peels back, onion-like, to reveal the Grade II-listed cinema's chequered past. It opened in 1934, only to be controversially knocked down in 1964 to make way for an office block, before being reconstructed two years later. It's a credit to Kavanagh's project that the staff were accommodating of his penetrative on-site stint. 'Firstly, they let me physically work with the cinema building; and secondly, they aided my conceptual work by providing me with a list of all the films shown since the cinema opened.' Kavanagh called upon his own childhood memories of these films to influence the abstract images embedded in his collages.
Kavanagh was also inspired by the films on show during his residency, that he could hear playing through the cinema walls. 'During the period I was working at Curzon, both The Revenant and Anomalisa were showing,' he says. This explains the eclectic mix of colours, styles and influences woven into the series.
Transport for London recently declared the Curzon's nearby Soho branch a 'surface of interest', meaning it could be bulldozed within the next two years to make way for the Crossrail 2 developments. It seems the Mayfair Curzon was also a 'surface of interest' for Kavanagh (albeit in a very different way) – the Marlborough Contemporary showcase couldn't have come at a more important time for the London institution.
Kavanagh worked in-situ at the Curzon, taking surface rubbings from the board-formed concrete walls and repurposing them for a new series of works. Pictured: installation view.
The series aims to comment on how the 'architecture and atmosphere' of the cinema plays into our impression of the film on show. Pictured: inside the palatial Mayfair cinema.
By using physical traces and residues of the building, Kavanagh celebrates these carefully curated surroundings and places them centre stage. Pictured: 21.3.2016, 2016.
The Grade II-listed cinema (pictured) is an arthouse icon with a chequered past. It opened in 1934, only to be knocked down in 1964 to make way for an office block, before being reconstructed two years later. Pictured: inside the main theatre.
Kavanagh was also inspired by the films on show during his residency, that he could hear playing through the cinema walls.
'During the period I was working at Curzon, both The Revenant and Anomalisa were showing,' he says. Pictured: 10.3.2016, 2016.
This explains the eclectic mix of colours, styles and influences woven into the series. Pictured: 12.3.2016, 2016.
Given the imminent potential razing of Curzon Soho, this show couldn't have come at a better time for the institution. Pictured: 21.3.2016, 2016.
INFORMATION
’March’ is on view until 18 June. For more information, visit the Marlborough Contemporary website
ADDRESS
Marlborough Contemporary
6 Albemarle Street
London, W1S 4BY
-
Audi launches AUDI, a China-only sub-brand, with a handsome new EV conceptThe AUDI E previews a new range of China-specific electric vehicles from the German carmaker’s new local sub-brand
-
Inside Izza Marrakech: A new riad where art and bohemian luxury meetHonouring the late Bill Willis’ hedonistic style, Izza Marrakech fuses traditional Moroccan craftsmanship with the best of contemporary art
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
-
Nan Goldin documentary is a gritty tale of addiction, resilience, and battles with the Sackler familyAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed, directed by Laura Poitras chronicles acclaimed photographer Nan Goldin’s complex life, work, and tireless activism to hold power to account
-
Fondazione In Between Art Film: a cinematic celebration of time-based media in VeniceBeatrice Bulgari’s new foundation, championing time-based media, takes over a disused hospital with a surreal group exhibition during the Venice Biennale 2022
-
Steve McQueen’s ‘Sunshine State’ illuminates the cavernous halls of Milan’s Pirelli HangarBicoccaAt Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, acclaimed artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen unveils the world premiere of the video installation, Sunshine State, staged alongside iconic works
-
The Andy Warhol Diaries on Netflix reveals his enduring impact on contemporary artWe review the new documentary, and showcase Warhol’s impact on modern culture through three artists: Deborah Kass, Jeff Koons and Glenn Ligon
-
A photographic trip through America’s roadside façadesIn her ongoing series, The Mother Road, Hayley Eichenbaum documents the tainted romanticism of roadside architecture on Route 66 in the American Southwest
-
Beauty and decay: inside America’s derelict movie theatresIn a new photobook, photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre capture a bygone era of entertainment through decaying American movie theatres
-
Laurent Grasso confronts our post-Anthropocene world on film in ShanghaiThe French artist’s, Artificialis, recently dominated the nave of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Now, as the Centre Pompidou takes the project to Shanghai's West Bund Museum, we revisit our interview with the artist from December 2020
-
Watch JR’s poignant procession for Australia’s agricultural emergency
Released for Earth Day 2021, French artist JR’s film, Homily to Country, is an intensely human commentary on the ecological decline of the Darling/Baaka river system in south-eastern Australia
