Stephen Willats - SECRET LANGUAGE THE CODE BREAKERS
15 Sep - 10 Nov 2012
Desk Transformations, 1986/ 1987, Photographic prints, photographic dye, acrylic paint, Letraset text and objects, 10 panel work: 133 x 99 cm to 33,5 x 43 cm
Contemporary Living, 1985/ 1986, Photographic prints, photographic dye, acrylic paint, felt tip pen on card with electric clock, 6 panel work: 102 x 140 cm to 38 x 72 cm
Signs and Messages from Modern Life No. 4, 1987, Photographic prints, photographic dye, pencil, acrylic paint on paper, Framed size: 80 x 130 cm
The second half of the 1980s became a pivotal moment to Stephen Willats' work. Willats, one of the most influential figures of the British art scene, focused his works of the early 1980s on London's club scene, depicting it as a self-organized counter-culture. However, from the mid 1980s, he began concentrating on the so-called "space of total normality". Alongside modernist apartment blocks, he also focused on corporate structures in the workplace. In this regard, works like "Desk Transformations" (1986-87) incorporate all the elements that symbolize "counter-consciousness" within the deterministic environment of an office desk. The exhibition at Galerie Thomas Schulte will offer a powerful insight into Stephen Willats' work of the late 1980s as this will be the first time there has ever been a retrospective exhibition of Willats' work from this period. The exhibition will be supplemented by a specially produced catalogue.