The Serpentine Gallery is one of the London art scene’s lesser known gems and as ever they’re upcoming Pascale Marthine Tayou: Boomerang exhibition looks set to be an insightful feature into the work of an exciting contemporary artist. It’s the first solo show in London for the Cameroon-born artist, bringing a wide range of his head-turning drawings, sculptures and installation to the city in 2015.
Opening at the Serpentine Gallery on the 4th March 2015, the exhibition will be housed in the Sackler Gallery section of the Hyde Park art hub, with a two and a half month run through until the 17th May 2015. As well as being well known for featuring dynamic modern artists, the Serpentine Gallery has also managed to retain it’s free entry policy, so you’ll be able to see Pascale Marthine Tayou’s featured work in the exhibition without the need to buy a ticket. It’ll be open from 10am to 6pm Tuesday – Sunday and on bank holidays, if you’re planning a visit.
The exhibition itself will include a mix of Tayou’s existing work and a number of items that have been created specifically for the Gallery display this year, so even if you’re fairly familiar with his previous artistic output there will be something new to see. There’s no clear confirmation from the Gallery in terms of the origins of the exhibitions name, Boomerang, but if we had to hazard a guess we’d have to refer to the concepts of returning to your origins, links to early human craft-work and recycling, which all resonate with the artist’s activity since he began his creative journey in the 1990s.
Born in Yaounde in Cameroon, Pascale Marthine Tayou now lives and works in Belgium and has featured in solo shows at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, California in 2014, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, also in 2014, MACRO, Rome, Italy in 2012, MUDAM Luxembourg in 2011 and Mac Lyon in 2011, adding to his reputation over the years. He’s become know for his ability to challenge perceptions of identity, socio-political issues and global consumer culture, delivered through imaginative sculptures and large installations.
Some of these seem to combine man, nature, beast and machine, whether it’s the 100 metre wound snake installation, Africonda (pictured above), which has been constructed out of wool, plastic, glass, craftwork and recycled waste products, or the fuel pump tentacled Octopus and industrially-charged primal sex appeal questioning of Graffiti neon. What we like most about his work, though, is that it instantly conveys layers of meaning with a single glance that leads to more possibilities the longer you take to look, which is going to make the Pascale Marthine Tayou: Boomerang exhibition such a great event in 2015.
It’s the first UK exhibition to feature the artist since 2008, so you should probably grab the chance to see it while it’s on, because it might be some years before you’ll get another opportunity again. His traditional craft-work is matched by his skill with modern materials to create a dialogue that spans generations and we’re looking forward to getting to see it all together under the roof of the Serpentine Gallery.
