Moving Image: Istanbul

Mark Moore Gallery is proud to announce program artist Shaun Gladwell's inclusion in Moving Image: Istanbul, a global art fair devoted exclusively to contemporary video. For the first time, the fair will hold an edition of its critically acclaimed fair model in the Kuleli Building at the Halic Congress Center, September 25-28, 2014, concurrently with the ArtInternational art fair.

The gallery will present Shaun Gladwell’s newest video, “A Study in Stillness and Balance,” (2014), which depicts a figure (the artist) balancing on an off-road mountain bicycle in various locations throughout Campbelltown (AUS). These performances involve the rider remaining as still as possible within urban spaces at night. Only small and subtle movements of the rider are detected. Occasionally, a car will pass through the background of an otherwise still and quiet urban scene, illustrating a brief juxtaposition between the static and active aspects of modern society. The notion of stillness and balance becomes a play on Eastern models of meditation, which often associate exterior, physical stillness and balance with emotional and spiritual equilibrium. Gladwell draws a connection between Eastern philosophy and global sociopolitical well-being via this metaphor, drawing special attention to the paradox of sitting atop an unmoving bicycle. Through his literal, physical immobility, Gladwell embodies the stagnant nature of cultural politics and policy within the Campbelltown region, and modern world at large – an evocative reference to the shortcomings of our political and spiritual progress. This fair presentation will be the global debut of this work to the public.

Shaun Gladwell (b. 1972) is an Australian-born, London-based artist. He completed Associate Research at Goldsmiths College, London in 2001 and has since undertaken numerous international residencies and commissions. He has exhibited prodigiously in Europe, North and South America, and in the Asia Pacific Region. International 2013 exhibition highlights include those at the Royal Academy of Arts (London), "California-Pacific Triennial" at the Orange County Museum of Art (CA), KUAD Gallery (Istanbul), and "Video Forever," a touring exhibition, featured at Gallery Magda Danysz (Paris), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), and the Museum of Lyon (France). Gladwell's work is included in the public collections of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney), Museum of Contemporary Art (Sydney), Museum of Contemporary Art (Tokyo), Orange County Museum of Art (CA), Progressive Art Collection (PA), SCHUNCK (Heerlen), VideoBrasil (Brazil), Wadsworth Atheneum (CT), among many others. The artist lives and works in the UK.