Martin Westwood often works with mass-produced materials collected from the corporate environment – photocopies, carpet tiles, vinyl stickers and newspapers – which he transforms to form the highly crafted components for his installations.
Westwood’s images and objects construct fictions that expose a strangely familiar, yet faded, human environment, which recalls the idealised corporate imagery of the 1980s. His complex sculptural installations are concerned with the investigation of how spaces impact on human behaviour from both social and psychological perspectives.
Continuing to develop the subtle relationship with the space in which
he shows, Westwood uses the specific architectural features of the
atrium of Bloomberg SPACE while responding to its functional context.
For his new commission, several sculptural elements are set in tension
with a short video sequence, shown on a single screen. As visitors
walk into the darkened rear gallery of Bloomberg SPACE, they
encounter a voluminous structure placed on the floor occupying the
footprint of the ceiling above them. This structure functions as an
inverted ceiling, whose depth suggests the existence of another space
below. Within the structure, various small windows visible from the
sides display intriguing sculptural arrangements that seem to have
been buried and forgotten.
Two more elements complete the installation. A pair of water-coolers
have been cast in concrete and placed in the balcony space,
suggesting the idea of doubling, and therefore echoing the mirroring
of the structure with the ceiling above. On the wall, a screen
broadcasts unedited stock footage showing a couple walking by a small
poolside decorated with rocks.
COMMA focuses entirely on the commissioning of new work providing
exceptional opportunities for artists to experiment and expand their
practice in relation to the particular nature of Bloomberg SPACE.
Twenty of today’s most outstanding established and emerging international artists have been invited to create new work, installations and architectural interventions in a fast paced succession of exhibitions created in response to and seen for the first time at Bloomberg SPACE.
The new programme continues Bloomberg Space’s reputation of presenting the unknown alongside the very well known drawing on a group of artists from across the globe. The programme spans a wide range of media – during the year painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, performance and film are all featured – and retains the potential for one-off or performative events.
About Bloomberg SPACE
Bloomberg SPACE is a gallery based at Bloomberg’s European
headquarters in London and is dedicated to commissioning and
exhibiting contemporary art. It welcomes visitors six days a week and admission is free.
Bloomberg SPACE, 50 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1HD
Open: Monday to Saturday 11am – 6pm
www.bloombergspace.com
