James Richards: Requests and Antisongs / Fluorescent Chrysanthemum

James Richards: Requests and Antisongs
Lower Gallery and Upper Gallery

In partnership with Bergen Kunsthall and Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, ICA presents Requests and Antisongs, a solo exhibition by British artist James Richards. In Richards’ work, images and sounds are merged into highly affective video works that combine footage from a wide range of sources edited into elegant compositions. His recent projects separate these elements out again, allowing space for multi-channel audio installations that combine sound in a way that is physical and spatial. The video works convene materials according to the silent rhythms and movements of the footage they contain.

In Requests and Antisongs, Richards presents three works, both new and recent, which continue an ongoing exploration of the emotive power of appropriated digital video. The works on view are produced separately but conceived as a suite, containing overlapping samples and musical parts iterated or reworked into different forms throughout.

Presented in the ICA Lower Gallery, Crumb Mahogany (2016) is a six channel sound installation that moves across a wide range of genres and musical languages—from rhythmic passages and sections featuring a vocal trio, to sequences built up from field recordings and incidental sound, resulting in a kaleidoscopic and highly cinematic sensorial experience.

Drawing on the same set of vocal recordings, the works Radio At Night (2015) and Requests and Antisongs (2016) are presented in the Upper Galleries. The latter combines footage from newscasts, medical documentaries and French erotica as well as the ICA’s own archive of video documentation, into a lyrical meditation on the body as a site for the flow of material and sensation.

An accompanying artist’s book made in collaboration with Isla Leaver-Yap and published by Sternberg Press will be released in October 2016.

Co-commissioned by Bergen Kunsthall, ICA London and Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, where the exhibition travels throughout 2016–17. The exhibition is reconfigured and adapted for the particular architectural environment of the galleries in each institution. 

Related events:

Leslie Thornton + Q&A
Sunday, October 2, 2pm

Artist’s talk: James Richards
Monday, October 3, 6pm

Andrew Kerton:_fieldnotes
Monday, October 3, 8:30pm

Gallery tour led by ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir
Thursday, October 13, 6:30pm

Dani Leventhal + Q&A
Thursday, October 27, 6:45pm

 

Upcoming exhibition:

Fluorescent Chrysanthemum
ICA Fox Reading Room

This display highlights the ICA’s rich heritage as a home for radical contemporary arts and culture. Fluorescent Chrysanthemum, curated by Jasia Reichardt in 1968, was the first presentation of Japanese experimental arts in Europe—including over 80 participants.

The exhibition was divided into six sections: sculptures, miniatures, posters, graphics and music with visual scores and films. The title refers to the fluorescent effects in many of the works, and the chrysanthemum is one of Japan’s national symbols. It was organised with the advice of four Japanese critics: Ichiro Haryu, Yusuke Nakahara and Yoshiaki Tono, for the visual arts, and Kuniharu Akiyama for music. Minami Gallery and Tokyo Gallery sponsored the show. Kohei Sugiura designed the distinct graphics and exhibition working closely with Reichardt. The unusual catalogue consisted of two copies of the poster each folded into a square and presented in a plastic bag. Once unfolded, the first poster, with text in black on white, included the introductions and biographies; the second poster had the list of works in the exhibition, printed in white on black.

This display represents this archive material alongside original works, examining the importance of the 1968 show, which also marked the year the ICA moved to its current premises on The Mall. Founded in 1946, now in its 70th anniversary year, the ICA is extending the research and profiling of its legacy with additional support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The ICA Fox Reading Room was made possible by the generous support of the Edwin Fox Foundation.