Tim Head: Exquisite Corpse

This is the first exhibition in England of Tim Head's work since his retrospective exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1993.

In the last six months, Head has been developing a new series of works centred around slide and video projections. Pale Fire and Exquisite Corpse, continue his investigation into the wealth of  seductive imagery to be found in food and other packaging that surround us in the late 20th Century. Exquisite Corpse is based on generic images of farmyard animals fused with the signs and symbols which often accompany the foodstuffs which are derived from them.  The natural and the manufactured are fused; images of farmyard animals are punctured at random by functional holes or tabs.

Using 4 separate projectors, the shadows of the pig, the cow, the lamb and the hen are positioned so that their layers melt into hybrid images that are both familiar and ambiguous.  These four animals represent the basic components of a food and packaging industry that places increasing emphasis on technological advance. They also pick up themes that Head touched upon in a painting from 1986, Cow Mutations, and in a slide projection installation, Present, made in 1978.

The forms of the light images in these projections are reminders of brand name signs or trade marks that signify  standards of quality  in production.  Head manages to turn these positive spaces into negative light images.  They imply a world of foodstuffs where the importance of seductive packaging has grown in contrast to the quality of its content.

Glow in the Dark, an installation using luminous paint and ultraviolet light, questions the dubious nature of technological advances further. At a time when 'mad cow disease' remains a serious threat, Head's luminous cows lead us to ask where it may all end.