Exhibition
Magic Show - Pump House Gallery
For some, the idea of magic suggests fantasy and illusion, while for others it signals a license to practice deception. 'Magic Show' considers these aspects intertwined, how both art and magic employ perception-shifting tactics that exploit the power of suggestion. Artists, like magicians, manipulate and mystify not simply for entertainment, but to redress fundamental relationship within the social, political or cultural realm.
'Magic Show' features work by 24 international artists, with new commissions and an archive of historical posters, curious props and off-beat ephemera from the world of theatrical magic. Artworks and artefacts flourish in the grey area between fact and fiction, and demonstrate the potential of trickery and illusion to overturn logical thought.
Featuring Jonathan Allen, Archive (Anne Walsh & Chris Kubik), Zoe Beloff, Ansuman Biswas & Jem Finer, Joan Brossa, Rick Buckley, Brian Catling, Center for Tactical Magic, Jackie & Denise Chapwoman, Tom Friedman, Brian Griffiths, Colin Guillemet, João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Susan Hiller, Alexandra Hopf, Christian Jankowski, Janice Kerbel, Annika Lundgren, Juan Muñoz, Bruce Nauman, Ian Saville, Ariel Schlesinger, Suzanne Treister and Sinta Werner.
Magic Show is a Hayward Touring exhibition from Southbank Centre, London on behalf of Arts Council England.
Curated by artist Jonathan Allen and writer Sally O’Reilly.
