exhibitions
exhibition archive 2010

Dawnbreakers 27 April - 12 June 2010 Diann Bauer | John Chilver | Ruth Claxton | Tom Dale Nick Dawes | Shezad Dawood | Angus Sanders-Dunnachie | Stewart Gough | Samuel Herbert | Justin Hibbs | James Hopkins | Julian Hughes Watts Zebedee Jones | Ian Monroe | Boo Ritson | John Stark Pamela Richardson & Kevin Smith | Richard Wathen James White Leon Woolls | Neil Zakiewicz

I was dreamin’ when I wrote this
Forgive me if it goes astray
But when I woke up this mornin’
Could have sworn it was judgment day
Prince, ‘1999’

When the new millennium rolled in, predictions of a computer catastrophe – the Y2K problem – amounted to nothing but fear. Never before, perhaps with the exception of the Moon landing, had the world watched a singular moment with such intensity and foreboding. In one second, The Industrial Age became The Information Age.

Dawnbreakers brings together contemporary artists of mixed disciplines and uses this moment in history as the backdrop to the exhibition, drawing parallels with its transformations and underlying tensions. These artists negotiate the heritage and tradition of ‘the artist’s hand’ within an unfolding new age.

Dawnbreakers does not illustrate what is meant by digital or analogue. Neither is it an homage to the fears associated with Y2K paranoia or a yearning for bygone times. In a manner echoing the dramatic transitions that occurred during the ‘fin de siècle’ period of the 19th century, these artists’ works take different forms but encapsulate a common feeling, as our age meets
tomorrow’s world.

Dawnbreakers is a John Hansard Gallery exhibition curated by Juan Bolivar. A new publication featuring a curator’s text, collaborative artists’ novella and artist’s pages will be available from the Gallery Shop for the special price of £3.50 (normally £5.95).

Images (top to bottom):

John Stark, Gateway, 2009. Courtesy the artist and Charlie Smith london
Stewart Gough, Untitled sculpture - Dawnbreaker, 2010. Plastic plates/bowls, place mats,drain/dust-extraction pipe, guttering, conduit, pneumatic wheels. Courtesy the artist.
Boo Ritson, At the Diner, 2009. Triptych consisting of 3 archival digital prints on Somerset paper in a single frame designed by the artist. Edition of 3. Courtesy the artist and Alan Cristea Gallery, London. Photography Andy Crawford.
Ian Monroe, A Solar Rarity, 2010. Adhesive vinyl on aluminium. Courtesy the artist.