A new art space in town

JJMorgan and Co. officially opens its doors to the public this February with a Lovelab Projects 'Spreading blankets on the beach' curated by Melanie Moreau.

There is something utterly joyful and simple in the evocation of spreading blankets on the beach and indulging in summer abandon; as if there was merely a simple relationship with life: a rainbow, a splash in a swimming pool, a toy, a paradisiacal beach, clichés from road trip and holidays, images and souvenirs. … The scenes are familiar and ordinary; they are private moments and stories, everyday experiences. But under the pretty, humorous or light-hearted pictures lie disenchantment: there is no gold at the end of the rainbow, the toys are old and broken, the views unsavoury and the heritage gone.

 Using different techniques and media, the artists presented here share an interest about narratives of who we are, through the collation and recollection of anecdotes and memories. Their images, realistic enough to create an illusion of a story or at least an allusion of it, tell life in all its quiet and great futility; record the banality of its ambitions, charming and extraordinary. Here, they document our relationship to this world and life which, confronted with the mirror of its decay, persists softly and with great frivolity. So let’s spread blankets on Lyall Bay beach and let the sunshine in on JJMorgan & Co!

Spreading Blankets On The Beach

Vistoria Birkinshaw

Steve Carr

James R Ford

Maria Hegedus

Peter Miller

Geoffery Notman

Mark Ussher

DATE

Preview Saturday the 13th of February 5pm onwards

Show runs from the 13th till 27th of February 2010

JJMorgan and Co. and LoveLab Projects would like to give special thanks to Suite Gallery, Mary Newton Gallery, Bennett’s Beer and the artists for their support.