Den britiske kunstner Rose English (f. 1950) indledte sin kunstneriske praksis i en tid, hvor krydspodninger af forskellige kunstneriske discipliner ikke var almindeligt udbredt eller tilskyndet. Som studerende oplevede hun at blive bortvist fra to kunstakademier, fordi hun beskæftigede sig med performance, der blev betragtet som en kunstnerisk arbejdsform, som hørte til i teaterverdenen. Opløsningen af kategorier var imidlertid i bevægelse, og i 1973 tog English afgang Leeds Polytechnic, hvis progressive kunstlinje gav hende mulighed for at skabe performative værker og arbejde på tværs af kunstneriske kategorier.

Med udgangspunkt i den konceptuelle kunst og dans brød Rose English igennem på den skelsættende feministiske kunstscene i 1970’ernes London. Hun udforsker metafysiske spørgsmål og debatterer temaer som identitet, kønspolitik og selve kunstnerrollen. English befinder sig i et kunstnerisk krydsfelt og optræder i sammenhænge og forklædninger, der forbinder performance, installation, teater, dans og film. Hun optræder som lige dele værtinde, entertainer og filosof i sine performances, og hun gør derigennem scenen til et rum, hvor der tænkes.

I 1970’erne og 1980’erne var English en vigtig stemme i Londons feministiske bevægelse og undergrundsscene. I samarbejde med filminstruktøren Sally Potter og komponisten Lindsay Cooper skabte English den banebrydende feministiske spillefilm The Gold Diggers (1983), hvor alle der arbejdede på filmen var kvinder, og alle blev betalt samme løn. I 1990’erne arbejdede hun tæt sammen med en række legendariske modedesignere, heriblandt Mr. Pearl, som især er kendt for sine korsetter, og som har ekviperet berømtheder som popstjernen Kylie Minogue, burlesquekunstneren Dita von Teese og topmodellen Jerry Hall. English har tilllige selv optrådt som skuespiller i både eksperimentelle og mainstream film.

The Eros of Understanding præsenterer et bredt udvalg af Rose English’ arbejde gennem de sidste 40 år og kombinerer billedkunst, teater, cirkus, opera og poesi. En gennemgående figur i English’ sammensatte kunstneriske praksis er hesten. Kulturen omkring ridning og hestesport har fascineret English gennem årtier, og hesten optræder som en figur, hovedperson og performer i mange af hendes værker. Denne udstilling aktiverer kunstnerens eget arkiv, og følger hende dekonstruere ikoniske rekvisitter og objekter fra tidligere performances. Samtidig ser hun flygtigheden, der uundgåeligt kendetegner den performative praksis, i øjnene, og leger med forskellige manifestationer af nærvær og fravær af kunstneren og hesten igennem de tre udstillingssale.

Det er første gang nogensinde, at English’ ekstremt forskelligartede og omfattende arbejde samles og udstilles på en kunstinstitution. Udstillingen er formet af Rose English’ refleksioner over scenen, performeren, publikum og forestillingen om ”det store show”. The Eros of Understanding samler en række centrale værker i form af videoer, fotografier og rekvisitter såvel som vignetter, ephemera, kostumer, notesbøger og storyboards.

Udstillingen er kurateret af Stine Hebert.

Udstillingen er støttet af Statens Kunstfond, A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine MC-Kinne Møllers Fond til almene formaal, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond og Richard Saltoun & Karsten Schubert, London.

The British artist Rose English (b. 1950) began her work as an artist in an age where cross-pollination between different artistic disciplines was neither widely known nor encouraged. As a student she found herself expelled from two art academies for working with performance art, which was regarded as the specific province of theatre. However, a general blurring of categories had already been set in motion, and in 1973 English graduated from the rather more progressive Fine Art Department of Leeds Polytechnic, which gave her the opportunity to create performance art and to cut across established artistic categories.

Drawing on conceptual art and dance, Rose English’ practice emerged in the feminist and performance art scenes in 1970s London. She explores metaphysical issues and discusses themes such as identity, gender politics, and the role of the artist. English operates in a field where many different art forms intersect, appearing in contexts and disguises that combine performance and installation art, theatre, dance, and film. She acts as hostess, entertainer, and philosopher in her performances, thereby transforming the stage into a space for thought and reflection.

During the 1970s and 1980s English was a prominent voice within London’s feminist movement and underground scene. Together with film director Sally Potter and composer Lindsay Cooper she created the groundbreaking feminist feature film The Gold Diggers (1983); all the crew working on the film were women, and all were paid the same salary. In the 1990s she collaborated with a range of legendary fashion designers, including Mr. Pearl, who is particularly famous for his corsets and has dressed celebrities such as pop star Kylie Minogue, burlesque artist Dita von Teese, and top model Jerry Hall. English herself has appeared as an actor in experimental and mainstream film alike.

The Eros of Understanding presents a wide selection of Rose English’s work from the last 40 years, combining visual art with theatre, circus, opera, and poetry. One of the recurring figures in English’s composite oeuvre is the horse. The culture surrounding riding and equestrian sports has fascinated English for decades, and the horse appears as a figure, main character, and performer in many of her works. This exhibition activates the artist’s own archives and sees her deconstructing iconic props and objects from previous performances. She also directly addresses the fleeting, ephemeral qualities inherent in performance art, playing with a range of different manifestations of presence and absence – of artist and horse – through the three exhibition rooms.

This is the first time ever that English’s extremely eclectic and extensive range of work is brought together and exhibited at an art institution. The exhibition is shaped by Rose English’s reflections on the stage, the performer, the audience, and the notion of ‘the big show’. The Eros of Understanding brings together a range of central works in the form of videos, photographs, and props as well as vignettes, ephemera, costumes, notebooks, and storyboards.

The exhibition is curated by Stine Hebert.

The exhibition is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation,  A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine MC-Kinne Møllers Fond til almene formaal, Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansens Foundation and Richard Saltoun & Karsten Schubert, London.

Biography

Rose English was born in Hereford in 1950. She graduated from the Fine Art Department of Leeds Polytechnic in 1973, subsequently to being expelled from another art school for working with performance. English was an important voice in London’s feminist movement and underground scene in the 1970s and during the 1980’s and 1990’s worked with designers including Simon Vincenzi and haute couture corsetier Mr Pearl. She collaborated with film maker Sally Potter and composer Lindsay Cooper creating the seminal feature length film The Gold Diggers (1983) and has appeared in both experimental and mainstream films. She was included in the influential exhibition WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution (2009) at MOCA in Los Angeles, and has exhibited in venues as various as Tate Britain, Royal Court, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Adelaide Festival and Lincoln Center off Broadway in New York. Her performances have featured a diversity of co-performers including musicians, dancers, circus performers, magicians and horses.