Press Release
Ruth Proctor has lived in Turin for a month, and been inspired by the city. The exhibition ‘Greetings’ is the journal of this exploration, experienced almost as a performance in which chance has played an important role. Her installations mix drawing, sculpture, dance and cinema, and although not accompanied by sound, are always marked by a musical tempo.
‘Postal Karaoke in Torino’ is a series of postcards that the artist has sent to the gallery from different mailboxes in the city, on which she typed verses of the song ‘Let’s dance’ by David Bowie, making up a sort of karaoke extended over time and location.
The same musical aspect can be seen in prints the artist has created placing old wooden and metal typographic characters by hand in structured compositions. The rhythm is more harmonious and minimal in two large prints drawn from an old book demonstrating ‘how to read tarot cards at home’, found during the artists time in Torino, in which simple rectangles are arranged in various geometric forms.
Also in the exhibition are three videos that are testimony of an unauthorized poetic action repeated by the artist at dawn over three days at an outdoor ice rink in Piazza Vittorio. Climbing over the railing wearing a black mask that reminds one of Zorro, the artist enters the rink before it is open and dances on ice for several minutes each time.
This performative dimension permeates the entire show and also encourages visitors entering the gallery to participate themselves. The artist asks the viewer, through detailed instructions, to move in specific directions, interacting with the works, sometimes just to wear them.
Ruth Proctor (Scunthorpe, Great Britain, 1980. Lives and works in London). The artist works with Norma Mangione Gallery and Hollybush Gardens, London. She had solo shows at Westlondonproject, London, Center Gallery, Berlin and Lugar a Dudas, Cali, Colombia, where she recently won a residency. She was invited to the show Capc, ou la vie saisie par l’art, curated by Aurélie Voltz, at CAPC Musée d’art contemporain, Bordeaux and to Automatic, AutoItalia, London and Dublin. During 2011 her works will be shown at Centre d’Art Contemporain, Chamarande, Paris and at the gallery Starkwhite, New Zealand. Her 16 mm fims Le Double (2008) and Composition (2009) are part of the collection of the Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, Turin.
