Ghislaine Leung : CONSTITUTION

Chisenhale Gallery presents CONSTITUTION, a new commission by Ghislaine Leung. Situated within the discourses of both artists’ moving image and institutional critique, Leung’s work is foregrounded by questions of agency, circulation and distribution. 

Working with sound, light, scale and temperature this exhibition builds on Leung’s ongoing enquiry into withdrawal and dependency. Taking active cancellation in sound as an initial structure, Leung’s new body of work considers moves from closed systems to complex commons. 

A new sound work explores the spatial possibilities of active sound cancellation, a method used in the design of noise-cancelling headphones in order to eliminate unwanted environmental sounds. In bringing sound cancellation into an open system, sound here is not isolated in fidelity, but is instead altered in volume and intensity dependant on the audience’s position in the gallery space. The exhibition also includes a series of architectural adjustments made to the gallery space, alongside sculptures and a moving image work, highlighting acts of dependency through the circulation of self-contained and shared energy. 

In this new commission Leung looks to what is at stake in forms of cancellation, exploring the interdependencies, complicities and reliances of how this act is not only produced, but constituted.  

Ghislaine Leung’s exhibition commences Chisenhale Gallery’s Commissions Programme for 2019, which includes new commissions by artists Mandy El-Sayegh, Ima-Abasi Okon and Sidsel Meineche Hansen. Through her work, Leung contributes to new discourses on institutional critique, exploring issues related to labour and value, themes that recur throughout Chisenhale Gallery’s programme for 2019.

Exhibition events:
As part of the commissioning process, a programme of discursive events has been devised in collaboration with Ghislaine Leung, including talks at the gallery and offsite events at partner organisations.

Curator’s talk
Thursday, February 7, 7pm
Ellen Greig, Curator: Commissions at Chisenhale Gallery, gives an introduction to Ghislaine Leung’s exhibition.

Architecture workshop for children
Saturday, February 9, 2pm
Our Hut, an architectural education charity, lead a workshop exploring architecture and the built environment for children aged 5-11 years.

Ming Lin gives a talk in response to Ghislaine Leung’s new commission
Tuesday, February 19, 7pm
Ming Lin gives a talk in response to Ghislaine Leung’s new commission, drawing on her research into mass production and distribution networks.

Film screening
Wednesday, March 6, 6:45pm
Ghislaine Leung presents a screening at the ICA Cinema of Jeff Preiss’ STOP (1995-2012), a feature-length chronicle distilled from 2,500 100-ft rolls of 16mm film shot between 1995 and 2011. Please note that this event takes place offsite at The Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AH.

Curator’s talk
Thursday, March 7, 7pm
Amrita Dhallu, Curatorial Assistant: Commissions at Chisenhale Gallery, gives an introduction to Ghislaine Leung’s exhibition.

Early morning viewing 
Friday, March 15, 9-10:30am
An early morning viewing of Ghislaine Leung’s exhibition with an introduction to the work by Layla Gatens, Curatorial Assistant: Engagement, at Chisenhale Gallery.

Ghislaine Leung in conversation with Fatima Hellberg 
Wednesday, March 20, 7pm
Ghislaine Leung is joined in conversation with Fatima Hellberg, Artistic Director at Künstlerhaus Stuttgart.

Events are free to attend, unless otherwise stated, but booking is strongly advised. Please visit chisenhale.eventbrite.co.uk to make a reservation.

Biography
Ghislaine Leung (b. 1980, Stockholm, Sweden) lives and works in London, UK. Recent projects include: October 12-November 25, 2018, FRI ART, Fribourg; LABOUR, Schleuse, Vienna; VIOLETS, Netwerk, Aalst; Local Studies, Reading International, Reading; Acoustic Holographic Language, Bureau des Réalités, Brussels; Five Sculptures, ESSEX STREET, New York City (all 2018); The Moves, Cell Project Space, London (2017); 078746844, WIELS, Brussels (2016). Leung is a member of PUBLIKATIONEN + EDITIONEN. Her first collection of writings Partners was published by Cell Project Space in 2018 and her second publication with Divided is forthcoming in 2019. Forthcoming solo exhibitions include ESSEX STREET, New York; and Künstlerhaus Stuttgart (both 2019).

CONSTITUTION is commissioned and produced by Chisenhale Gallery, London with additional production support from EMPAC, The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute through their artist in residence programme.

Lead supporter: Shane Akeroyd.

Ghislaine Leung’s commission is produced with support from the Chisenhale Gallery Commissions Fund. Leung’s exhibition at Chisenhale Gallery is also supported by Arts Council National Lottery Project Grants; Joe and Marie Donnelly; and Alice Rawsthorn. With additional support from the Ghislaine Leung Supporters’ Circle and ESSEX STREET, New York.

Chisenhale Gallery’s Commissions Programme 2017-19 is supported by the LUMA Foundation. The Curatorial Trainee Programme is supported by Sirine and Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh. The Talks and Events Programme 2019 is supported by Brian Boylan and forms part of Chisenhale Gallery’s Engagement Programme. With additional support from the Engagement Programme Supporters’ Circle.