Lay of the land (and other such myths) has been developed and co-produced by Mark Devereux Projects with Victoria Lucas over the last year. As the 2016 winner of the SOLO Award™, Lucas will launch Lay of the land (and other such myths) with Chiara Williams Contemporary Art at London Art Fair 2017. Shortly afterwards, Lucas will exhibit new photographic works at HOME, Manchester, before a new large-scale installation launches at AirSpace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
Lay of the land (and other such myths) blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality, by inviting the viewer to navigate a constructed fictional landscape that playfully references the vast spatial properties of the desert; large golden boulders litter the gallery space, panels present theatrical backdrops, short looped videos position fragmented bodies in place. Comprising of different elements including text, photography, sculpture and film, Lucas’ landscapes draw on the historical and cultural contexts of site and materiality to suggest new conceptual narratives.
Photographs of the Alabama Hills, taken during Lucas’ research residency in the Mojave Desert, are digitally manipulated to create vivid, layered images that accentuate the slippages between reality and digital. In her film work Women on Horses, Lucas edits footage from Western films shot in the Alabama Hills – where women are often depicted fleeing on horseback from gangs of macho cowboys – to depict women riding alone in an empowered gesture. This subversive act challenges mainstream depictions of gender by deconstructing cinematic representations of place.
Lay of the land (and other such myths) has been funded by Arts Council England, the University of Central Lancashire, and HOME. It has been co produced by Mark Devereux Projects, Chiara Williams Contemporary Art, HOME and AirSpace Gallery. Victoria Lucas is represented by Mark Devereux Projects.
For further details about the exhibition and gallery opening times please contact us.
Image: Imaginary Voice, Real Voice, still from video, Victoria Lucas, 2016. Image courtesy of the artist.
