SURFACE WORLDS:
Reflections in the City
September 2018 | Mercer Chance | London
Work and exhibition images from Geraint’s first London solo exhibition. Surface Worlds explored themes of class, consumerism and the myth of the individual, captured through fleeting window reflections of London’s retail mecca, Oxford Street.
Filmmaker Jayne Rowlands captured the process behind the making of the work.
“Geraint Ross Evans’ drawings are from the strange layered world of Oxford St shop windows, where false dreams glitter unreachable through reinforced glass. Street life passes by leaving glimpses and reflections of reality that overlay the plastic fantasy within. Shop workers prostrate themselves before faceless mannequins, bin men hustle along their daily route, tourists gawp and dawdle, preachers and activists vie for airspace above the churning buses and in midst of it all, there’s Geraint, clinging on to his drawing board as if it’s a raft keeping him from sinking into existential crisis.”
- Michael Chance (Mercer Chance)
The works were accompanied by evocative “soundscapes” -- field recordings made whilst drawing in the city. Combined with the two-dimensional work on display, the sonic experience immerses visitors in the feeling of travelling through Oxford Street with a moment to consider this usually hectic, dictatorial and competitive environment without having to battle through it. Surface Worlds: Reflections in the City sees Evans expand his recurring theme of genius loci (spirit of place).
“Evans’ holds onto these moments so that they can be remembered, holding a light bright enough to burn images onto the back of your retinas, arguably showing something that we are all aware of, but sadly, too seldom, see.”
- Bob Gelsthorpe (Wales Arts Review) Click HERE for full review
With special thanks to photographer Jen Abell of Ffotojenic, filmaker Jayne Rowlands, Rachel Mercer and Michael Chance of Mercer Chance Gallery.
