SOUTHFIRST 60 N6th Street Brooklyn, NY 11211 www.southfirst.org ph 718 599 4884

SOUTHFIRST: PRESENTS

AMHHA

Richard Evans

7 October – 6 November, 2011

SOUTHFIRST is proud to present “AMHHA,” an exhibition of new drawings and 3-D studies by Richard Evans. The show is on view from 7 October – 6 November, 2011. The title is an anagram of the name of a work by electronic musician Morton Subotnick, All My Hummingbirds Have Alibis, which described a series of “imaginary ballets" based on the collage novels of Max Ernst.

Fanagalo (2011) is a series of six framed photographs of sculptures. The objects resemble Surrealist sculptures or African ceremonial objects. Their presentation echoes early-Twentieth century photography of Modernist sculpture like that of Giacometti or Jean Arp; small, black-and-white photographs in tight black frames, setting off moodily lit fetish objects. The title comes from the pidgin language used as a lingua franca in South African gold, diamond, and copper mines. A complementary series, Objcts (2011), feature in three color photographs similar quasi-Surrealist sculptures which reference Max Ernst maquettes.

Another sculptural series is loosely grouped around the theme of sound. It features guitar strings threaded through fine art materials: a block of alabaster, a concrete box. The works reference Picasso’s guitar collages and some of the play and metaphorical material explorations of synthetic cubism. IIII_Interior (2011) highlights the vibratory potential of material like Perspex, plasteline and dust. Some sculptures are studies in contrasts, such as Zzwik2’s (2011) collapsed polyurethane rubber on a steel armature; other pieces utilize materials with metaphorical implications, such as aspirin, talcum powder, and Vaseline, or subvert expectations of materials, such as rubber reliefs of wood.

Evans’s explorations seem nostalgic for a between-the-wars Modernist style, referencing names and exhibition strategies from the 1930s. Yet the show also playfully reworks materials, imaginary systems, and anti-form tactics.

Richard Evans, b. 1976 in Birmingham, UK, has exhibited in solo shows with Maureen Paley gallery, London. His work has recently appeared in group shows at the Saatchi gallery, London, Foxy Production, New York, and in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, as well as appearing in the exhibition “A Testbed of Futurity,” at Southfirst in 2010. He founded and ran The Ship Projects, an independent gallery in London between 2003-2007. His work is in the collections of Bernard Arnaud, Dior, and Saatchi. His work has been featured in The Guardian, The Art Newspaper, The New York Times, tema celeste, Untitled, and Flash Art, among other publications. He previously exhibited under the name Dick Evans.

SOUTHFIRST, founded in 2000, is located at 60 N6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn between Wythe and Kent Avenues. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday from 1-6 PM and by appointment. Subway: L train to Bedford Avenue.  For more information, please contact Maika Pollack at 718 599 4884 or info@southfirst.org.