ELSA ROUY: I Could Always Crack A Joke
An introspective exploration and navigation of the idea of the self, using the body and its corporal properties to express ideas centred around separation, sexuality and dependency.
‘I Could Always Crack a Joke’ showcases a new body of work by Elsa Rouy that ridicules, empathises with, and embraces the bizarre navigation of the human condition. The exhibition explores an introspective exploration and navigation of the self, using the body and its corporal properties to express ideas centred around separation, sexuality and dependency.
Featuring a painting series, a sculptural installation and a printed publication, the artworks disengage the links and language between the corporal body and the preternatural mind. Where the artist herself, in various forms is on display, toying with alternate versions of her own psyche.
Two ceiling to floor installations, featuring sculptures of plaited and freefalling hair hanging lifelessly from latex gashes separate the space between the painted bodies and the physical. Recurring imagery of hair acting as an oppressor and binder of pig-fat sheened figures and their counterparts. The uncomfortable interaction between the hair, gashes and fluids upon the skin denotes an unpleasant restriction that overpowers a bodily release. The adversary to the hair is pouring and thickly painted fluids that engage the smooth imagery with small bursts of liberation upon the otherwise contorted and displaced bodies. The bodies in question appear disjointed, having their identities obscured or projected within a non-space through abstracted crops. Each face has a resemblance reminiscent of the artist. Each figure has a fluid but familiar form of identity. The ends of the hair drip fluids forming into two puddles beneath, simultaneously imitating blood and milk.
PLAYLIST
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London Gallery Weekend: the emerging galleries shaking up the capital’s art scene
Ben Luke, Evening Standard, 10 May 2022 -
Art shows to leave the house for this May - LONDON GALLERY WEEKEND, LONDON, UK
Ashleigh Kane, Dazed, 10 May 2022 -
TEN’S TO SEE: ‘I COULD ALWAYS CRACK A JOKE’ BY ELSA ROUY AT GUTS GALLERY
Paul Toner, 10 Magazine , 6 May 2022
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London Gallery Weekend: the emerging galleries shaking up the capital’s art scene
Evening Standard 10 May 2022Forget the big beasts of the London gallery world, we’ve picked out the best of the exciting young spaces to visitRead more -
Art shows to leave the house for this May - LONDON GALLERY WEEKEND, LONDON, UK
Dazed 10 May 2022Two good things are happening this weekend in London. The first: sunshine! The second: London Gallery Weekend. Launching in 2021, the two-day-long, city-wide art takeover...Read more -
TEN’S TO SEE: ‘I COULD ALWAYS CRACK A JOKE’ BY ELSA ROUY AT GUTS GALLERY
10 Magazine 6 May 2022The work of London-based artist Elsa Rouy is rooted in lust, gore, and desire. Part of the Guts Gallery family of emerging talents, Rouy creates...Read more -
I Could Always Crack A Joke
By Elsa Rouy 5 May 2022‘I Could Always Crack a Joke’ is a hand-signed 25 edition publication accompanying Elsa Rouys solo show at Guts Gallery. This publication features eleven original...Read more
