NYC Arts: Chase Contemporary Presents British Artist’s The Connor Brothers Solo Exhibition

Chase Contemporary is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in the United States with British artists The Connor Brothers, in partnership with British brand Maddox gallery, entitled "A Dangerous Idea," on view beginning Thursday, January 31, 2019.  

The exhibition, which will be on view from Thursday, 31 January through Saturday, March 16, 2019, will feature a selection of new works from 2018, including oil on canvas paintings, hand-painted works on paper, editioned collage works, and hand-painted vintage books. The new work is executed in the artists' signature style of witty proverbs superimposed over motifs taken from historical pop culture.


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One painting incorporates a pithy aphorism, "Truth is weirder than any fiction I've seen," painted over a mostly grey-scale, film noir image. The works are at once cinematic and literary, playful yet sinister, and insightfully relatable. 

Best known for their Pulp Fiction series, the pair are also known for their activist work and their playful hoaxes. In 2014 they created a fictional museum, The Hanbury Collection, which fused truth and fiction in such a way as to render it impossible to work out which exhibits were real and which were not.


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This obsession with truth and fiction can be seen throughout their work, and is particularly relevant in the current climate of fake news, post-truth and social media obsession.

Vice Versa, 2018 | 90.5" x 55" Oil on CanvasSo Seductive  | 29.5" Unframed | 39 x 25" Framed 

The Connor Brothers is the pseudonym for British artists James Golding and Mike Snelle. The duo came to prominence in 2012 and for several years maintained their anonymity by using a fictional biography. Their identities were revealed in 2014 in a major feature by Mick Brown in The Telegraph magazine, allowing them to undertake more ambitious projects.


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The Connor Brothers have been amongst the most prominent artistic voices to comment on the refugee crisis, having worked in The Jungle refugee camp in Calais building shelters and on an international billboard campaign, Refuchic, highlighting the plight of displaced people.  

She Had an Unquiet Mind, 2018 | 41.5 x 43.7"  Acrylic, Varnish & Collage on Paper | Edition of 3; Her Heart Was Scarred, 2018 | 41.5 x 43.7 Acrylic, Varnish and Collage on Paper | Edition of 3

Closely associated with the Russian activist group Pussy Riot, The Connor Brothers produced their 2015 refugee themed theatrical performance at Banksy's Dismaland. More recently they have teamed up with Professor Green and the mental health charity CALM to raise funds and awareness about the UK's epidemic of male depression and suicide. 


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The Connor Brothers exhibited internationally in London, Sydney, Dubai, Hong Kong and Berlin, including solo shows at Maddox Gallery and Guy Hepner.

Works have been included in major auction houses such as Christie's and Bonhams with a record set at Phillips London in 2018. Major collections include the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Penguin books art collection and the Omer Koc and Niarchos Collections.

An opening reception will which will take place on Thursday, 31 January 2019 from 6pm-8pm at Chase Contemporary located in New York City. For information This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Chase Contemporary is an art gallery and artist project space with two prominent locations in Chelsea, New York's fine art district. Chase's core program is to exhibit both established blue chip artists and emerging artists, to create a dynamic program that is diverse and provocative in its vision. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Visit chasecontemporary.com 

 

Images courtesy of The Connor Brothers and used with permission. All images are subject to copyright law.

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