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It's a circus (dark Grey)

2011

Jonathan Monk

Photography

Photography: 75 x 60 cm, monochrome grey: 150 x 120 cm

Photograph
Monochrome gris: acrylic on canvas

This piece is part of a series of 23 monochromatic paintings which were hung at the Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris, in March 2011 by a circus troop of two floor acrobats, an aerial acrobat, four jugglers and two mimes.

The paintings were hung in a melange of colour and energy, and according to a precise choreography dictated by Jonathan Monk. Having not witnessed this performance, the public can only observe the effervescence of the hanging through the 23 photographs presented in the front room of the gallery.

Jonathan Monk

Grande-Bretagne

Born in 1969

Born in Leicester, UK
Lives and works in Berlin and Glasgow.

Part of the Young British Artists movement, Jonathan Monk has gained recognition on the international scene since the mid-1990s as one of the most original and gifted artists of his generation.

In the same vein as Douglas Gordon and John Baldessari, Jonathan Monk demystifies artistic creation by questioning and drawing on linguistic and semantic systems. From photographs from his family albums to conceptual-art legacies, Monk uses whatever he can find to pay tribute to humour, and to add personal context to art history. In doing so, he creates a meeting point between the art world and its historical subjects, myths and anecdotes, and everyday life.

His artistic approach is based on the principle of “appropriation”. He uses the works of known, iconic artists as a starting point, modifying and revisiting them to instil a dialogue between the historical artwork (for example, Sol Lewitt, Robert Barry, Stanley Brown, Carl André) and the new work of art that he has created. This transfer is to be found mostly in the incongruity, mockery and humour of his work.