Aetopoulos is pleased to present a show of four new works by Richard Evans that collectively demonstrate a shift in Evans’ practice from sculpture based on a conceptual relationship to space, form and materials to a multi-disciplinary practice focusing on metaphor, symbolism and narrative.

The current vocabulary of Evans’s work comes from using approaches and methods from contemporary industrial practices, film, sound design, historical craft skills and traditional techniques of modernist sculpture to create works that explore fictional dislocation; how stories, symbols, objects, sound and structures of the past have created the illusion of a contemporary psyche.

His broad range of influences often focus on marginalized cultures from tribal and folk art to science fiction, history and urban myths. This manifests itself as sculpture, installations, films and radio broadcasts.

Makeup (Claire’s) (pictured) is from a series inspired by gothic French ironwork, medieval book illustrations and consumer ephemera. These works contrast the long lives of historical craft objects with the contemporary and fleeting lives of beauty products and the fantasies they encourage.

life/jacket continues the shows interest in and satirical relationship to fashion, borrowing Extinction Rebellion’s logo in the form of a badge the work dually refers to the real difficulties of current political and social events such as immigration and climate changes throwing them against the glossy surface and anti-political nature of contemporary sculptures such as Koon’s bunny or Thomas Schütte’s huge chrome figures. These frozen fabric works connect the luscious pompous drapery of painters such as Anthony Van Dyck, cloth on torsos of ancient Greek sculpture with consumerist fetish wear made of silk, latex and leather.

The Silver Garden sound work relates to the last two sculptures theme of lost innocence. It’s myth like narrative talks about an omni-present god who inhabits the bodies of hung over tourists by becoming a mist that clouds a ferry in the Greek Islands. A vampire like god possesses the bodies of the sleeping revelers when they form shapes or compositions that relate to ancient paintings or sculptures. The mercurial nature of the chrome life jacket, the teenage make up brand and and the idea of Apollo’s garden of eternal youth all frame the dark story that has been soundtracked by looped cello of samples created by David Barbenell.

An Abandoned Hole, 4am is a work taken from a series based on American folk art especially steel weather vanes combining the images using industrial processes to highlight domestic superstition and narrative. The work frames a solar panel which is used to charge the headphones used in The Silver Garden. Viewed from the side it resembles a clock mechanism or antiquated Antikythera mechanism, a time travel like wall relief chained to a final hope of renewable energy.

Drenched in reoccurring themes and images sourced from nature, film, literature, art history, music and consumer culture Evans’s practice cross-references subjects back and forth; creating connections between ideas, anecdotes and mediums. This time-travel approach reflects an ongoing practice of research and exploration, creation and satirical apocalyptic experimentation.

Evans has exhibited widely including shows at The Saatchi Galley, The Hermitage St. Petersburg and The National Museum of Australia solo shows include Maureen Paley, London and Southfirst, New York. His short film work C.A.G.E. won was best film at the Crown Heights film festival. His work is included in several major collections including Bernard Arnaud, The Saatchi Gallery, Simone De Pury and Dimitris Daskalopoulos. His work can currently be seen at Parcours for Louis Vuitton, Paris. His short film White Light is due to be released in September.