Premiere of new Hayward Touring exhibition curated by Jonathan Allen and Sally O'Reilly, organized in collaboration with QUAD.
Magic, like art, thrives in the gap between representation and misrepresentation. Magic Show considers how artists adopt the perception-shifting ploys of the theatrical magician to summon wonderment while simultaneously performing critique. Divisive applications and emotive manipulations are rife, not only in the artist’s efforts to move us or spur us to imaginative leaps, but also in the arena of politics.
Magic Show consists of work by 24 international artists across all media, as well as an archive of artefacts from the theatrical magic world. The exhibition is augmented by a programme of film and video screenings, live performances and a full-color catalogue with newly commissioned texts by writers from the art and magic communities.
Magic Show Artists: Jonathan Allen, Archive (Chris Kubick & Anne Walsh), Zoe Beloff, Ansuman Biswas & Jem Finer, Joan Brossa, Rick Buckley, Brian Catling, Center for Tactical Magic, Jackie & Denise Chapwoman, Tom Friedman, Brian Griffiths, Colin Guillemet, João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Susan Hiller, Alexandra Hopf, Christian Jankowski, Janice Kerbel, Annika Lundgren, Juan Muñoz, Bruce Nauman, Ian Saville, Ariel Schlesinger, Suzanne Treister and Sinta Werner.