Eagle and Eken

Rob Eagle and Rose Eken

11 - 26 Sep 2010

Gallery open: Fri-Sun 12-6pm

 
Rose Eken, The Fool, 2009, cross-stitch embroidery on linen (details), 160x110cm

Fleeting, or inconsequential pleasures and a general unheroicness are the first things that leap out from Eagle and Eken’s work. Both reference entertainment and thrills, but also use a handmade, deadpan quality, which gives their work a wry personal element, sometimes touching on melancholia. They share an interest in the romance of cultural objects and events such as gig-going, funfair signs, vehicles, commercial typography, and both have a sense of humour in their outlook on the world. Their references to banality, combined with the aspirational, glamorous feelings associated with the objects their work evokes, adds a contemporary irreverence.

Rob Eagle’s sculptures and drawings take an inquisitive look at the peculiarities of modern British culture, offering an intuitive and often humorous perspective on the real physical world and the people and objects of everyday life. Eagle completed an MA in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art in 2009 and lives and works in London. His recent shows include Riff-Raff, Q, London; OF THE LAND (curated by Rob Eagle), Vulpes Vulpes, London and Basement Projects, FRED, London.

Rose Eken works in a variety of media, including drawing, video installation and embroidery. Her work draws on the melancholy and romance of popular music, and aims to unpick the processes through which certain places or pop-cultural objects have become embedded within the collective consciousness.
Eken was born in Copenhagen and lives and works in Denmark and the UK. She completed an MA at the Royal College of Art in 2003 and recent shows include Sindet Har Ingen Tid (Time Out of Mind), Overgaden Institutut For Samtidskunst, Copenhagen; Falling and Laughing, Brandts Kunsthal, Odense, Denmark; Through The Looking Glass, SVG3, Glasgow; John, I’m Only Dancing, The John Jones Project Space, London; Into the Fold, Standpoint gallery, London.