Paul Jex, 002 | Dan Flavin and David Batchelor, from the Institute of Monochrome Art series, 2014, digital print, 42x30cm
For the first presentation in Vane’s new Project Space, Paul Jex is exhibiting work from his Institute of Monochrome Art (IOMA). Each piece consists of the pairing of two artists who have worked, or continue to work in a single colour and explores, documents and questions the monochrome and the artists’ interest in it, highlighting both the similarities and differences. In effect, Jex is facilitating ‘phantom’ or imagined exhibition opportunities for these artists.
Jex is focused on the tangential, the liminal spaces and boundaries of art. At the centre of his practice is the act of collecting, appropriating and referencing of art. His selections of artworks are supported by anecdotes that reveal the sequence of the artists’ investigations – the chances and discoveries – and in particular an ongoing exploration of the monochrome, the single colour.
Each work consists of a series of A3 digital prints that are tiled together. Purposefully enlarged, they replicate the design of a commercial gallery advertisement that would be found in a glossy art magazine. These are then printed from Jex’s studio, keeping the personal involvement of production that accompanies the pairing of the artists of his choice.
For Vane, Paul Jex is showing three of these prints: 002 | Dan Flavin and David Batchelor, 016 | Derek Jarman and Absalon, and 026 | Louise Nevelson and Roni Horn.
Accompanying the prints is a website archiving the ‘exhibitions’ and the artwork. Go to www.instituteofmonochromeart.com
Paul Jex was born in Newton Aycliffe, Durham in 1981 and currently lives and works in Newcastle. He studied Fine Art at Staffordshire University and, with Carol Sommer in 2006, co-founded blimey!, an artists’ peer and support network based in Darlington.
