Mondrian X Woody Allen = Success

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For exhibition #22, two pieces were shown, each harnessing works and styles from famous artists. Ana Pastor’s video piece ‘"My one regret in life is that I am not someone else" Woody Allen’ takes a humorous look at the pressure that one has in the art world to achieve a utopian idea of success. Utilising found footage, the artist superimposes a giant smiling face onto various characters from the art world, from Ai Weiwei to Marina Abramović, becoming the artists in question whilst simultaneously anonymising them, placing them behind the unblinking, constantly smiling, papier-mâché head. The clips that are used span a number of years, and are accompanied by ‘Why Can’t I be You?’ by The Cure, a song originally released in 1987, so it’s unsurprising that the work feels slightly dated, which functions well in conjunction with Jack Ratcliffe’s ‘Mondriane’, an online clock that utilises the colours and shapes of Piet Mondrian’s various ‘Composition’ paintings. Ratcliffe brings new ideas to Mondrian’s old paintings, whilst Pastor brings old ideas to new video sources, all made available via the internet.

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​Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight