21 JUNE u2013 20 JULY 2013

RICHARD HEALY / ALEXANDRA GORCZYNSKI / MIA GOYETTE / CALVIN SANGSTER

To continue One Thoresby Streetu2019s intention of supporting studio artists via an outward looking programme of exhibitions and events in the Attic, BLUE LAGOON, The forth exhibition in the series, continued to situate itself in line with the current exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary u201cThe Universal Addressibility of Dumb Thingsu201d a curated show by Mark Leckey and the following exhibition in their programme, u201cAquatopiau201d that explores the imaginary potential or other worldliness of the ocean.

Artists were been invited to respond to BLUE LAGOON as a cocktail, a tourist destination and a place of relaxation and retreat.

Blue Lagoon aimed to explore display techniques, visual aesthetics and the dissemination of information and ideas available via the television, the internet, certain music genres, fashion, branding and advertising. Thinking in particular of the multi faceted associations one can have with the title Blue Lagoon, ranging from cocktails to porn films, aquatics, health spas, well being or exotic retreats; Richard Healy, London; Alexandra Gorczynski, New York; Mia Goyette, Berlin; and One Thoresby Street artist Calvin Sangster attempt to embrace the gallery space as an alternative environment that can be interpreted in many different ways.

Much in the same way that Mark Leckey treats his exhibition as an artwork, with display strategies in place that question a vieweru2019s relationship to an object, Blue Lagoon provides a backdrop to an expectation that one might presume they will experience within the gallery space.

Richard Healy (b.1980) works in sculpture, installation, video and digital animation to explore fictions created through objects, materiality, tactility, sensation, structure and form. For Blue Lagoon, Healy presents u201cagainst natureu201d, titled after the 1884 novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans. combining the fictional and conceptual architectural form of the u201creception desku201d with a hand-blown glass vase, a vapouriser, scent to enhance productivity and floral arrangement, healy creates a dialogue between labour, leisure, gender, expectation, form and function.

Alexandra Gorczynski (b.1983) works in a variety of traditional and digital media to reflect aspects of our heavily networked and digitized lifestyles by exploring mundanity, surrealism, and sincerity within private and public space. For Blue Lagoon, Gorczynski has created u201cAFK Gardenu201d, a video of vibrant blossoms collaged into a midnight landscape. u201cAFKu201d referring to the internet abbreviation for u201caway from keyboardu201d, makes this garden retreat a rather difficult, yet very desirable destination.

Mia Goyette (b. 1989) attempts to blur the line between made objects & consumer goods. Exhibited in Blue Lagoon is the series u201cWet (Denim Gradient)u201d, 2013. Each of the four works is comprised of printed canvas, paint, and poured resin. These different forms of production are guided by color matching, object association, and tactility. The end product describes its own making, calling to mind the slick and self-affirming style of advertisements or branding.

Calvin Sangster (b.1988) explores the place between action and intent, fashion and branding, masculinity, form and display.

For Blue Lagoon we are presented with u201ctechnotronicu201d, a colour plane, a formidable structure that attempts to isolate the gallery. echoing the deep rumbling of a repetitive beat taken from the 12u2033 version of u201cblue mondayu201d by new order, sangster creates a tension between expectation and familiarity, phsicality and structure. To continue his interest in gender, tension and stability, we are also presented with u201caquatonicu201d; a painted still taken from a television advert for the american u2018gatoradeu2019 brand of energy drinks advertising their u2018glacier freezeu2019 flavour. aquatonic is also a menu2019s fragrance and shower gel. it is with these references that sangster highlights the instability and expectation that are created as a result of certain advertising structures and campaigns.