You are here

Jock Mooney: From Spiceworld to Brexit

Venue:

Categories:

Exhibition Type:

How many artists: 
1
Date: 
Thursday, 14 November 2019 to Saturday, 14 December 2019
Opening: 
Wednesday, 13 November 2019 - 5:00pm to 8:00pm

When Jock Mooney turned 15 in May 1997, the Spice Girls were at the height of their fame, New Labour had just come into power, and people were learning what a sun-dried tomato was. The country was embracing youth culture – ‘Cool Britannia’ – in a way that hadn’t been seen since the 1960s. It was a time that seemed open to the possibility of change, of optimism about the future. The UK as a nation seemed to be open to the world. The world, in turn, seemed to be open to us. Britain even won the Eurovision Song Contest that year.

Then, as the millennium turned, the nascent optimism started to seep away, replaced by an uneasy sense that the world was going wrong. The threat of international terrorism, global financial crisis, the climate change emergency, the rise of far right politics, have all contributed to this malaise. In a ‘post truth’ world, the media stoked a fear of the ‘foreign’: visions of the country overrun by ‘the other’ have been sold to an anxious population as justification for greater isolationism. As the country retreated into itself, the rest of the world – including the rest of Europe – was seen by many with increased suspicion, resentment and fear.

In ‘From Spiceworld to Brexit’ Mooney has chosen to revisit his memories of an optimistic youth, to re-examine them with an older and hopefully wiser eye. Devised at a time of ongoing political uncertainty, the exhibition sifts through the upheavals of the intervening decades and juxtaposes Mooney’s youthful icons with the current political climate in an attempt to reclaim some of the positive spirit of that earlier time.

In the exhibition we are presented with a sculptural tableau, a portrayal of Mooney’s personal Britannia: Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell. The first of a triptych of Geri based works, this tableau is partly influenced by Mexican Day of the Dead displays: floral and menacing at the same time. A warped parody of her appearance is also referenced in Very Geri, a series of small portraits shown en masse that are in part inspired by Louis Wain, famous for his cat-based illustrations and paintings. These became exaggerated and overly stylized over time as the artist arguably descended into madness. Mooney takes the same approach and explores the concept of the UK – and Geri – becoming unrecognisable, bizarre versions of themselves.

In the video, You Can’t Polish a Turd, Mooney has collaborated with the Geri Halliwell themed drag queen, Just May. She performs a song of Mooney’s that name checks, amongst other things, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Tori Spelling and Spaghetti Westerns. The song is also part of the 11-track soundtrack that Mooney has recorded to accompany the show. The keen of ear may hear soundbites of Theresa May, droning synths, birdsong, and motorway ambience, depending on what point they enter the space. Boris Johnson may or may not be referenced by the title of the closing instrumental piece, Big Bastard.

None of us can ever really return to the naïve optimism of our teens, but in ‘From Spiceworld to Brexit’ Mooney attempts to search for a new identity out of the ashes.

Artist:

Artist ( Description ): 

Jock Mooney was born in Edinburgh in 1982 and lives in London. He received a BA (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture from Edinburgh College of Art, 2000-04. Solo exhibitions include ‘Who Are You and What Do You Want?’, Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne, touring to Wasps Studios, Glasgow, and Ocean Studios, Plymouth (2016), ‘The Eyes Turn’d Inward for the Nightmare was Real’, Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne (2012), ‘Jock Mooney’ (The Skinny Showcase), Bongo Club, Edinburgh, ‘A Feast of Folly’, Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne, and ‘A Show Withdrawn’, Galleri 5, Lund, Sweden (2008). Group shows include ‘Travelling Gallery at 40’, City Art Centre, Edinburgh (2018), ‘Summa’, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2017), ‘SALON’, The Waterhall Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham, ‘Ten’, Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne, and ‘We don’t know what will happen?’, ArcadeCardiff, Cardiff (2015). He has worked in collaboration with animator Alisdair Brotherston for various projects including a segment of the film based on A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI, the autobiography of the late Graham Chapman of Monty Python. In addition they have produced videos for Pink Floyd vocalist and guitarist David Gilmour’s track, Rattle That Lock, inspired by John Milton’s poem, Paradise Lost, and the tracks Glass Onion and Back in The USSR to accompany the fiftieth anniversary reissue of The Beatles (The White Album) in 2018, as well as Here Comes The Sun from the recent rerelease of the Abbey Road album.

Telephone: 
+44(0) 191 261 8281
Other Info: 

For further information or images please contact:

Christopher Yeats, Programme Manager

tel: 0191 261 8281, email: info@vane.org.uk

Vane is open Wednesday-Saturday, 12-5pm, admission free.

Venue ( Address ): 

First Floor, Commercial Union House, 39 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6QE UK

Vane , Gateshead

Other events from Vane

view
Jock Mooney, John Mooney: Not in Service
02/29/2024 to 03/23/2024
view
You know you want to
02/15/2024 to 02/17/2024
view
Closed Enough
11/30/2023 to 12/16/2023
view
Cozzy Livs
09/21/2023 to 10/07/2023

Pages

Related Shows This Week in UK

view
Street Life
03/01/2024 to 05/18/2024
view
Capturing the Climate – Mixed Media Workshop
03/29/2024 to 04/07/2024
view
Joe Cheetham
02/29/2024 to 04/06/2024
view
Tim Noble & Sue Webster: Love and Hate at Firstsite
11/09/2023 to 12/31/2024
view
Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2024
02/23/2024 to 06/02/2024
view
Clay Is My Canvas
01/20/2024 to 04/07/2024
view
Art and Books Charity Sale at Ben Uri
03/15/2024 to 03/31/2024
view
THE HUDSONS, Family Ties
01/31/2024 to 04/14/2024

Pages