Modern Art Oxford is currently presenting a major solo exhibition of American artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson. The artist was a pioneer in the exploration of media and how it effected identity as technology began to take an ever-more central role in culture and society; Hershman Leeson began exploring privacy in an era of surveillance.
Image: Lynn Hershman Leeson, Infinity Engine, Origins Of The Species (Part 2) Modern Art, Oxford. P A Black © Artlyst 2015.
The artist manipulated her own identity long before the likes of Cindy Sherman, as an early practitioner of installation and interactive art, From 1974 until 1978, Hershman Leeson created a fictional persona and alter ego: called Roberta Breitmore. This creation consisted of a physical self-transformation of the artist through make-up, clothing, and wigs. Hershman Leeson’s latest installation using film and mirrors, presents a particularly sinister aspect in the contermporary manipulation of identity.
Image: Lynn Hershman Leeson, Infinity Engine, Origins Of The Species (Part 2) Modern Art, Oxford. P A Black © Artlyst 2015.
Hershman Leeson’s extensive career has focused on the changing relationship between the body and technology – which led the artist to create pioneering work with artificial intelligence, implants and printed limbs.
Image: Lynn Hershman Leeson, Infinity Engine, Origins Of The Species (Part 2) Modern Art, Oxford. P A Black © Artlyst 2015.
With her latest series of works the artist focuses on the genetic manipulation of the body as the latest principle for the manipulation of identity via the artist’s latest installation at Modern Art Oxford. The Infinity Engine captures the senses by inviting visitors in to a dynamic space that mimics the conditions of a genetics research lab.
Image: Lynn Hershman Leeson, Infinity Engine, Origins Of The Species (Part 2) Modern Art, Oxford. P A Black © Artlyst 2015
The installation was developed by Hershman Leeson over a number of years with scientists in the USA and recently in the UK with the University of Oxford, and combines film, data and sculpture to explore the limits and implications of genetic research.
The work explores the artists latest interest in these implications, taking a critical look at the ramifications of the manipulation of our genome’s, creating an immersive environment that explores the ethical implications facing society today.
Lynn Hershman Leeson: Origins Of The Species Part 2 – Modern Art Oxford – until 9 August 2015