Much like Frankenstein himself, the group of thirteen artists featuring in Lesley Heller’s latest exhibition Young Frankensteins collectively use their specialisms to create carnivalesque creatures. The exhibition opened on 24 February and includes artists such as Hannah Barrett, Austin Eddy and Joakim Ojanen.
Victor Frankenstein — bordering on obsession — induced life, part by part, into his monster. The exhibition hinges on a quote from the Mel Brook film, Young Frankenstein’s: ‘I live because this poor half-crazed genius, has given me life. He alone held an image of me as something beautiful’. This group of artists similarly bring their characters alive; characters which are sometimes vulgar, sometimes endearing, through little fault of their own, it all lies in the hands of the artist. It seems their comment is not simply on a physical injustice, but the ugliness of the human form in its most vulnerable state.
Shaped by the influential artists; Louise Bourgeois, Robert Crumb and Alice Neel, their cumulative works combine sculpture, painting and illustration. In distorting the human form in the manner in which they do, Dr. Frankenstein’s creation of a monster is brought to the present day.
Artists: Hannah Barrett, Jaqueline Cedar, Austin Eddy, Sarah Faux, Nicasio Fernandez, Annie Hemond Hotte, Shara Hughes, David Humphrey, Joakim Ojanen, Jeremy Roby, Peter Schenck, Ivanco Talevski, Alexi Worth.
‘Young Frankensteins’ will be showing at Lesley Heller until 3rd April
