Philip Newcombe, ‘6 pink gym balls liberated from a lifetime of physical abuse’ 2014, 6 gym balls; ‘Clap’ 2014.Rubber band snapped to the sound of a loud clap. Installation view. Courtesy the artist and Maria Stenfors, London. Photo: Mike Taylor
Philip Newcombe
COMPANY
2 May – 7 June 2014
at Maria Stenfors, London
Newcombe often uses familiar and democratic objects such as lollipops, darts, folded up paper, thread, perfume, other people’s business cards and scent dispensers. By adding to or subtracting from these with subtle and well aimed interventions, the possible narratives seem ambiguous, contradictory, open ended and looped; revealing truths, half-truths, red herrings and trip-ups. Sometimes not all is what it seems to be. Although titles can describe an activity (’20 pints of milk dispersed throughout a city’, for example), there is rarely any photographic documentation of the event or a date or any other superfluous conceptual padding to justify the action. There seems no need. Instead they stubbornly hover in the territory between fact and fiction. Continue reading “Philip Newcombe “COMPANY” at Maria Stenfors, London”
