Patrick Staff: The Foundation, Chisenhale Gallery
Collaborative performance and video artist Patrick Staff explores the community surrounding erotic artist and queer icon Tom of Finland at Chisenhale Gallery
Patrick Staff The Foundation 20 February - 5 April 2015
If you’re looking for something truly different, then head over to Chisenhale Gallery, London for the premier screening of artist, Patrick Staff’s film installation The Foundation. You might recall the recent Patrick Staff Tate performance, Chewing Gum for the Social Body (2012) in The Tanks at Tate Modern.
Patrick Staff: The Foundation
The film is
an exploration of the communities and relationships that make up the Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles – an archive of the work of the erotic artist and queer icon – alongside a series of performances in specifically built stage sets.
A product of several years of research, The Foundation is co-commissioned with Spike Island, Bristol; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, and is Staff’s most ambitious project to date.
What is the Tom of Finland Foundation?
Tom of Finland, or Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen, is best known for his homoerotic fetish art and considerable influence on late twentieth century gay culture. In 1984, Laaksonen and his friend Dirk Dehner established The Tom of Finland Foundation to serve as an archive for his extensive work and to ‘educate the public to the cultural merits of erotic art and promote healthier, more tolerant attitudes about sexuality.’
Chisenhale Exhibition
Rather than focus directly on Laaksonen’s work, Staff explores the idea of the foundation at Chisenhale: what led to its creation, and the relationships and communities that are produced and produce this body of work. In his experimental style, Staff blends documentary footage of the foundation with scenes shot against the backdrop of the building’s architecture.
Staff’s background working with video, installation and performance, as well as his experience collaborating and experimenting with artists, dancers, and historians, enable him to draw out this tangle of relationships.
The challenging Chisenhale Gallery exhibitions are a must for any contemporary art lover looking for upcoming events in East London.
Patrick Staff: The Foundation
The film is
an exploration of the communities and relationships that make up the Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles – an archive of the work of the erotic artist and queer icon – alongside a series of performances in specifically built stage sets.
A product of several years of research, The Foundation is co-commissioned with Spike Island, Bristol; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, and is Staff’s most ambitious project to date.
What is the Tom of Finland Foundation?
Tom of Finland, or Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen, is best known for his homoerotic fetish art and considerable influence on late twentieth century gay culture. In 1984, Laaksonen and his friend Dirk Dehner established The Tom of Finland Foundation to serve as an archive for his extensive work and to ‘educate the public to the cultural merits of erotic art and promote healthier, more tolerant attitudes about sexuality.’
Chisenhale Exhibition
Rather than focus directly on Laaksonen’s work, Staff explores the idea of the foundation at Chisenhale: what led to its creation, and the relationships and communities that are produced and produce this body of work. In his experimental style, Staff blends documentary footage of the foundation with scenes shot against the backdrop of the building’s architecture.
Staff’s background working with video, installation and performance, as well as his experience collaborating and experimenting with artists, dancers, and historians, enable him to draw out this tangle of relationships.
The challenging Chisenhale Gallery exhibitions are a must for any contemporary art lover looking for upcoming events in East London.
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| What | Patrick Staff: The Foundation, Chisenhale Gallery |
| Where | Chisenhale gallery, 64 Chisenhale Rd , London, E3 5QZ | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Mile End (underground) |
| When |
20 Feb 15 – 12 Apr 15, Opening Times: Wednesday - Sunday 1 – 6pm First Thursday of each month until 9pm. |
| Price | £Free |
| Website | Click here for more details |