08 July 2009
For its second major exhibition, Towner, the new contemporary art museum, has commissioned Jodie Carey to produce the most ambitious work of her career thus far. Sussex-born artist Carey has created three immense chandeliers, constructed from 9,000 plaster cast human bones, in a large-scale installation that will engulf Towner’s 400m2 Exhibition Gallery. The exhibition, entitled In the Eyes of Others, opens to the public on 11 July 2009.
The three chandeliers, each weighing a tonne, will loom imposingly in the vast darkened space. Viewers will wend their way through a shadowy landscape of highly stacked boxes and newspapers, before discovering the spot-lit chandeliers in a sudden clearing. Shrouded in darkness, with the air purposefully chilled, visitors will find themselves physically enveloped by an atmosphere of silence and foreboding.
In the Eyes of Others will be Jodie’s first solo exhibition in a UK public gallery. It builds on a previous untitled work in which she laboriously constructed ornate chandeliers from vacuum cleaner dust. Jodie’s work focuses on traditions of ritual, artifice and mortality in contemporary western society. Transforming the space, her large-scale sculptures and installations often seek to overwhelm the visitor and juxtapose monumental scale with the intimacy and intensity of her obsessive craftsmanship.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, Cllr Susan Morris said: “This exhibition represents the pivotal point in the career of a young emerging artist. Towner aims to give both up-and-coming international artists and artists from the UK an important platform, by programming their first solo show in a UK public gallery. We are delighted to work with an outstanding artist who originates from Sussex for this, our second commissioned exhibition, and to be able to showcase Jodie’s work in this iconic new building. Towner’s striking Exhibition Gallery is the perfect space for such a large scale installation. Jodie’s work has already received much critical acclaim and this new exhibition is extremely exciting for Towner and for Eastbourne.”
Elizabeth Gilmore, Head of Visual Arts, Arts Council England, South East, commented: “In the Eyes of Others is a fantastic example of the vision and impact a regional gallery can have. In choosing to follow its opening exhibition, by emerging international artist Iván Navarro, with a new commission by an artist from the region, Towner has demonstrated the balance and reach of its programming, and its commitment to bringing exceptional contemporary art to the foreground. This is an excellent opportunity for artist Jodie Carey, and a real boost for the visual arts in the South East”.
Jodie Carey was born in Eastbourne and grew up in Battle, East Sussex. She studied Fine Art at GoldsmithsCollege and graduated in 2007 from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Sculpture. Her work appears in major UK collections, including the Saatchi Collection, the David Roberts Collection and Hauser and Wirth. Previous works include Still, Life, 2008, Untitled Monument, 2007 and The Daily Mail, 2005. Jodie lives and works in London.
The exhibition will run until 13 September.
