"Disorientation"

P21 Gallery is pleased to present Disorientation exhibition, a body of work stems from artist Josh Sutton’s experience of travelling, studying and volunteering in the MENA region.

The title is a deliberate play on some of the ideas put forward by Edward Said in his seminal work Orientalism, most notably cultural stereotypes, spurious authority and cultural imperialism. The inclusion of Arabic script in some of the works serves to ‘disorientate’ an audience unfamiliar with the Arabic language, and perhaps intrigue those who are. The sequential images are conjured from memory, photograph and imagination and begin with the numbers on a telephone dial, which served as his introduction to the Arabic language. From Egypt, Syria, Morocco and on to Palestine, where he witnessed the on-going oppression of a population at the hands of the settler colonialist state, these paintings carry with them and increasingly dissident stance toward the illegal annexation and occupation of Palestinian lands. 

By pushing pigment over canvas, board or paper with a blunt Stanley Knife blade the artist denies himself the pinpoint accuracy that might be achieved when working with a pen or a fine brush. He relishes the assimilation of happenstance in the execution of an idea. Incorporation of other materials into his work, tickets, photocopies and other ephemera, can be seen as a reflection of influences ranging from Robert Rauschenberg through Jasper Johns to Joe Tilson.