Child-of-the-Sixties, LA-based artist Jason Rhoades's latest endeavour is a site-specific installation at Hauser and Wirth on Piccadilly: The Black Pussy... and the Pagan Idol Workshop.
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Rhoades based the work around an important turning point from pre-Islamic Arabia, the Destruction of the Idols. The holy shrine Ka'ba was used to worship pagan deities, and 360 idols were destroyed by the Prophet Mohammed when he rededicated the site to One God; hence the theme of Rhoades' work: we must protect our culture. Artefacts (many bought on eBay, apparently) and texts are spread through the gallery, including a dizzying collection of suspended black and coloured neon words. Words from the artists accumulation of various interpretations of the word vagina. Let's face it: the world's not been the same since the Vagina Monologues. So if you're working in the West End, nip out at lunchtime and impress your friends with your modern art talk and knowledge of Islamic-stylee history. And if the art doesn't do it for you, can you always have a drink at the Rivoli, or admire the architecture (the now workshop was a bank before): it's a fine example of a 1920's Lutyens building. Now, there's something we understand.
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The
Black Pussy... and the Pagan Idol Workshop |
by SF |
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