Slugfest

28/02/2012 - 31/03/2012

Galeria Leme presents Slugfest the third solo exhibition by the London-based artist David Batchelor.

All the works for this show were made by Batchelor in Brazil, from materials sourced from scrap-yards on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. Most of the works are derived from discarded sections of industrial steel pipes. These fragments are from a few centimetres to nearly 2 metres in length, and either angled, curved or straight. At each end, the pipes have brilliantly coloured sections of neon tube set within them. Each pipe sits directly on the gallery floor, allowing its colour to spill on the surrounding concrete. Resembling clusters of glowing industrial fossils, the works combine the old, rusted and abandoned with the vivid luminosity of commercial neon light.

The works in Slugfest continue and develop Batchelor’s long-term engagement with the artificial colours of the modern city. Over nearly two decades he has been producing three-dimensional work, drawings and photographs based on his research and experiments. In 2004 Batchelor was invited to participate in the 26th Bienial of contemporary art in Sao Paulo; since then he has shown regularly in Brazil, at Galeria Leme and elsewhere. A mid-career survey of this work, curated by Paulo Venencia Filho, was exhibited at the Paco Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, in 2010.

Batchelor has also published two books on colour, Chromophobia (2000,  published by Senac in Brazil as Chromofobia in 2009), and Colour (2008), an anthology of writings on colour that he edited. His book of 250 photographs from the ongoing series Found Monochromes, was published by Ridinghouse, London, in 2010.

About the Artist:

David Batchelor ,1955, Dundee, Scotland. He lives and works in London.

David Batchelor has had numerous solo exhibitions internationally, including Karsten Schubert Gallery, London; Paço Imperial  and Galeria Leme, Brazil; Wilkinson Gallery, London Talbot Rice Gallery, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland;  Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK. His work has also been seen in important group exhibitions including Saatchi Gallery, Tate Triennale, Tate Britain and  Laure Genillard Gallery, London; Folkestone Sculpture Triennal, UK; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Edinburgh Art Festival, Scotland;  26ª Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, Brazil.