Lake Erie from the Northwest
Laura Bartlett Gallery, London
12th February – 2nd April, 2016
WORKS SPECIFICATIONS / CAPTIONS FOR PRESS DOWNLOAD
Laura Bartlett Gallery is pleased to present a solo show of work by British artist Becky Beasley, curated by the artist. The exhibition brings together her most recent works, alongside a selection of key works from the last ten years and evidences Beasley’s interest in still life and domestic design. The title, taken from a large-scale photograph from 2010, resonates across the sculptures, objects and photographs in the exhibition, revealing Beasley’s ongoing reflections on human relation, viewpoint, orientation and perspective.
Beasley’s interest in returning to works in order to re-explore and re-work the potentials of specific elements is evident throughout the exhibition. The earliest work in the exhibition, The Left Door/La Dernière Porte (Athens Archive) (2004/2005), depicts a disused storefront. Beasley originally took this image whilst living in Athens in 2004 where she took many images – accumulating her Athens Archive – only later printing particular negatives. The negative here was reversed during the printing process, flipping the door so that it appears to be for the left hand. This subtle shift by the artist lends an uncanny, or sinistral, reading to what is a familiar image, and a reminder, perhaps, that “all the decisive blows are struck left-handed.[1]”. This work sets up the motifs of mirroring, reversal and duplication that appear throughout the exhibition.
[1] Walter Benjamin, One Way Street & Other Writings
