wotsit all about by james ostrer at the gazelli house gallery

wotsit all about by james ostrer at the gazelli house gallery
 

wotsit all about by james ostrer
at the gazelli house gallery, london
from now – 11 september, 2014

as part of the window project, gazelli art house is showing ‘wotsit all about’ – a series of photographic works depicting sugar adorned subjects by artist james ostrer. the works feature a cast of ghoulish characters made from donuts, chips, chocolate bars, burgers and more – with sugar on top.

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following text from brad feuerhelm / the gazelli house gallery

‘ostrer’s photographs allude to the history of primitive art, synthetic dietary sugar intake, and an irreverent twist on the absurd in which societal practices of ingestion oscillate into a nightmarish world of abject effrontery and nutritional disillusionment.’

‘the works are feverishly and painstakingly created tableaus with layers of sweets and foodstuffs being applied to a human subject, often the artist himself, which, when staged, are photographed and patterned for re-consumption through the distribution of photographic practice.’

‘speaking largely on the twentieth and twenty first centuries’ dietary concerns and sugar’s uncomfortable place within this, ostrer’s photographs conjure metaphorical allegories as ketchup flows as tears down frosted cheeks and kit kats’ mouths bark back with menacing grimaces. this adornment becomes a mask of what we eat which then becomes entwined with a hyper-pop sensibility and an obsequious inquiry into the great volumes of sugar that flow through our bodies.’

more:

see all of the works from ‘wotsit all about’ »

 james ostrer tells amy fleming of the guardian how making the images helped him kick his junk-food addiction.