A Ballardian future explored in London: 'No Shadows in Hell'

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'No Shadows in Hell'

Olivia Erlanger; Josh Kline; Jason Matthew Lee; Sam Lewitt; Carissa Rodriguez

On now until 4 September 2015

Pilar Corrias, 54 Eastcastle Street, London W1W 8EF

‘Semiocapital is in a crisis of overproduction, but the form of this crisis is not only economic, but also psychopathic’,  Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi, After The Future, 2011

The exhibition No Shadows in Hell brings into question a contemporary state of subjectivity, which is the result of current social, political, and technological forces.

A progressive vision of the future has been called into crisis over the last decades. The new horizon we must confront ourselves with is marked by the consciousness of exhaustibility of environmental, economic, emotional and psychic resources. We live in a generalized entrepreneurial society, where cognitive work is fast becoming the dominant form of labour, information a universal commodity and production is mainly an immaterial ungraspable process.

‘No Shadows in Hell’ obliquely references J.G. Ballard’s novel Super-Cannes (2000), in which Ballard describes a near future where a ‘perfected’ pressured existence is based on corporate work and hyper-productivity. Set on the Côte d'Azur in the hills above Cannes, the gated business park Eden-Olympia is the incubator for innovative technologies that seek to monitor and regulate both the human body and psyche.

This is a society without accountability; it is self-policing and loosely monitored by surveillance cameras and contracted security guards. The enforcement of authority is inscribed into the individual’s own desire to partake into corporate principles, driven by career ambition, responsibility and emotional investment.

The title of the exhibition ‘No Shadows in Hell’ alludes to the sunlight, which in the novel turns from a symbol of rational thought and order to an oppressive force that paradoxically hides in plain view the absence of moral or social values that underscore a perfectly engineered society. Through living an existence of complete corporate consumption, the mental and physical health of the elite residents inexplicably deteriorates. What keeps this ideal, sanitized community in balance are covertly administered doses of psychopathological violence that offset a tendency towards apathy and cultural malaise.

The future Ballard describes resonates with an acceleration, intensification, and overall exploitation of mental energies that characterize immaterial labour today. Italian philosopher Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi defines semiocapital as the shift of production from material to semiotic goods and increased psychic stimulation. Simultaneously overpowered by drug-induced euphoria, anxiety and a sense of imminent panic, the capacity for imagination and attention is collapsing under the stress of hyper-productivity.

New and recent works by Olivia Erlanger, Josh Kline, Jason Matthew Lee, Sam Lewitt, and Carissa Rodriguez touch upon the effects of physical and psychological disturbance, brought on by a general state of fragmentation and precariousness that identifies the structural conditions of social and work relations.

Artist Biographies

Olivia Erlanger (b.1990 in New York, USA) lives and works in New York. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: ‘Dog Beneath the Skin’, Balice Hertling, New York (2015); ‘Meat Eater’, Seventeen Gallery, London (2015); ‘Material Uncertainty’, Fluxia, Milan (2014); ‘Flight’, Center, Berlin (2014); ‘Material Studies II—A House Falls Apart’, Important Projects, Oakland (2013); ‘Squig on the Horizon’, Appendix Project Space, Portland (2013). She has also taken part in many group exhibitions internationally.

Josh Kline (b.1979 in Philadelphia, USA) lives and works in New York. Kline will have his first UK solo exhibition at Modern Art Oxford in August 2015. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: ‘Quality of Life’, 47 Canal, New York (2013); ‘Dignity and Self Respect’, 47 Canal, New York (2011); ‘Loveless Marriages’, 179 Canal, New York (2010). He has also taken part in many group exhibitions internationally

Jason Matthew Lee (b.1989) lives and works in New York. Recent solo exhibitions include: ‘GLObal HELL’, Galerie Crèvecoeur, Paris (2015); ‘Entropy’, Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York (2014); ‘Too Many Memories’, Bedstuy Love Affair, Brooklyn (2014). He has also taken part in many group exhibitions internationally.

Sam Lewitt (b.1981 in Los Angeles, USA) lives and works in New York. Lewitt will open his first solo show at a US public institution at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco in September 2015. Recent solo exhibitions include: ‘Verbrannte Erde: Second Salvage’, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren (2014); ‘Casual Encounters’, Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York (2014); ‘International Corrosion Fatigue’, Galerie Buchholz, Cologne (2013); ‘0110_Universal-City_1010’, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin (2011); ‘Total Immersion Environment’, Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York (2011). He has also taken part in a number of group exhibitions internationally.

Carissa Rodriguez (b.1970 in New York, USA) lives and works in New York. Rodriguez will open her first institutional solo exhibition at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco in December 2015. Recent solo exhibitions include: ‘La Collectionneuse’, Front Desk Apparatus, New York (2013); ‘Carissa Rodriguez’, Karma International, Zurich (2012); ‘Art Positions’, Art Basel, Miami (2011); ‘Busque El Ghost’, House of Gaga, Mexico City (2010); ‘Cherchez La Ghost’, New Jersey, Basel (2009). She has also taken part in many group exhibitions internationally.

Pilar Corrias
54 Eastcastle Street
London
W1W 8EF

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