Cookie Gate is a group exhibition that explores consumerism – but consumerism is perhaps a banal description for this very strange, intelligent and engaging collection of work, now on show at Dublin’s Ellis King.
A collection of sky-blue silky thongs are strung together, in front of a white roller shutter in Amalia Ulman’s Untitled (Safety Net). In another work, a column of seven basketball hoops are mounted onto the exhibition wall, each one allowing gravity to effortlessly slam dunk the ball into the concurrent hoop. Awol Erizku has named it Oh what a feeling, aw, fuck it, I want a Trillion, in reference to consumer king, Jay-Z’s Picasso Baby lyrics.
Ellis King presents this collection of installations, line drawings, altered photographs and paintings as an intricate exploration into the dissemination of information in a hyper, consumer-oriented society. The exhibition seeks to question what the effect is when we represent ourselves via material objects, becoming commercially marketed individuals.
Ebecho Muslimova’s work embodies this idea, in her depictions of a wide-eyed, long haired, black and white cartoon lady, attempting to present herself in a series of alluring, sexually explicit poses. Untitled, 2015 (b) presents the character on all fours, with her genitals facing the viewer. She turns around, her eyes glazed over in an attempt to seduce. There is a lifeless, dead sheep draped on her back. Muslimova’s cartoon is demonstrative of what this exhibition encapsulates: what do we look like when we present ourselves for public consumption.
Cookie Gate is open at Ellis King, Dublin until 15 August 2015.
