Alvaro Barrington: CIRCA Curated by Norman Rosenthal

CIRCA presents LONDON ZEITGEIST
Group exhibition curated by Norman Rosenthal

Alvaro Barrington
Matt Copson
Larry Achiampong
Rosie Hastings & Hannah Quinlan
Anne Imhof

Preview the films HERE

Bold new video works by five artists of the moment living or working in London will take over the world’s largest public screens this July in London, Seoul and Tokyo. Curated by Norman Rosenthal, ‘LONDON ZEITGEIST’ will comprise five independent films by Larry Achiampong, Alvaro Barrington, Matt Copson, artist duo Rosie Hastings and Hannah Quinlan, and Anne Imhof, together forming a bold and comprehensive showcase of the most promising artists within a generation to emerge from London.

This group exhibition adopts its title from Rosenthal’s 1982 exhibition ‘Zeitgeist’ that was held in Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau almost forty years ago, and which was arguably one of the most historically significant global painting surveys of the 20th century. ‘Zeitgeist’ brought together 45 of the world’s most driven and symbolically heroic artists of the moment, and illustrated Rosenthal’s unwavered motivation and capacity to embolden the great talent of the time. This led to other seminal exhibitions including ‘A New Spirit In Painting’ which introduced artists such as Baselitz, Kiefer, Polke and Richter to an audience beyond Germany, as well as the exhibition, ‘Sensation’ in 1997 at the Royal Academy which helped launch the careers of Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas and others.

"That complex German word “Zeitgeist” (Time/Spirit) that more and more has entered the English language - just like “Kindergarten” once did (!) - naturally relates to place as well as time. Each of the four young artists chosen I believe address these issues subjectively, inevitably, sometimes obliquely, yet each in a “Spectacular” and “Beautiful” way onto the iconic Piccadilly Lights screen. They then are transmitted to the other side of the globe. They are pictures both of issues and fantasies that obsess four individual artists living and working in London, forever a huge urban national centre, and that hopefully too will touch audiences around the world."- Norman Rosenthal

Alvaro Barrington (1 - 7th July) ‘Trust Your Global Stranger’

"I looked at a lot of clouds over the last years. I've looked at them from dif erent angles and over the years more and more from the airplane. It has come to mean many dif erent things to me….cycles of weather changes…… ideas about the world outside of this globe and lately it has meant nature. During lockdown it became nature unorganized by humans..it's just doing its thing and will continue to do its thing when we are no longer on this planet."

Alvaro Barrington (b. 1984, Venezuela) was raised between the Caribbean and Brooklyn, New York, by a network of relatives. An unwavering commitment to the community informs his wide-ranging practice. While Barrington considers himself primarily a painter, his artistic collaborations encompass exhibitions, performances, concerts, fashion, philanthropy and contributions to the Notting Hill Carnival in London.

#CIRCACONOMY PRINTS

This month, a series of four hand-signed, limited edition prints by Alvaro Barrington, Matt Copson, Larry Achiampong and Rosie Hastings & Hannah Quinlan are available to purchase for £100 (+VAT where applicable) on the CIRCA website until 31 July. Created in support of the #CIRCAECONOMY, 70% of the profits are circulated back into helping build an economy that commissions new public art in our communities, nurtures more diverse cultural industries, and supports emerging creative potential with the distribution of cash grants to artists and institutions. For more info, click here.

Each work will be screened throughout the month of July at the following times and locations:

London, Piccadilly Lights at 20:21 BST
Seoul, Coex K-POP Square at 20:21 KST 
Tokyo, Yunika Vision, Shinjuku at 09:00 JST 
Online via WWW.CIRCA.ART at 20:21 BST 
*Seoul, Coex K-POP Square at 20:10 KST only for Anne Imhof’s presentation of ‘One’ on the 8th, 16th & 24th July 2021

CIRCA is a pioneering digital art platform that presents new ideas, every evening at 20:21 BST, on London’s iconic Piccadilly Lights and broadcast across a global network of screens in Seoul and Tokyo. Rooted in time and bringing people together, each month CIRCA invites a different artist to create new work that considers our world circa 2021.

Since launching in October 2020 on London’s iconic Piccadilly Lights, CIRCA has commissioned work from rising and established names including Ai Weiwei, Cauleen Smith, Eddie Peake, Anne Imhof, Patti Smith, Tony Cokes, Emma Talbot, Vivienne Westwood, James Barnor, David Hockney and Nikita Gale.

Created by artist Josef O’Connor, CIRCA pioneered a new way for the public to engage with art and support creative communities through the sale of affordable prints by exhibiting artists. Each month, #CIRCAECONOMY profits are circulated back into helping build an economy that commissions new public art in our communities, nurturing more diverse cultural industries, and helping support emerging creative potential. LONDON ZEITGEIST has been supported by Thaddaeus Ropac, Corvi-Mora and The Heart of London Business Alliance. CIRCA would especially like to thank Norman Rosenthal for his relentless support to the CIRCA project and generosity given to the creative community at large throughout his career.

For more information, please contact: [email protected]