Installation view, 'Emma Hart: STICKY', Austrian Cultural Forum London, 2015

Emma Hart: STICKY

Curated by Victor Wang
Austrian Cultural Forum London
16 June – 31 July 2015

The Austrian Cultural Forum is honored to present "STICKY," a solo exhibition by the esteemed artist Emma Hart. This exhibition is the second in a series of solo presentations curated by Victor Wang that delve into the contemporary relationship between sculpture and digitization, specifically the dissemination of images and their materiality. The exhibition aims to provide insight and provoke thought on the intersections of technology and art.

For Hart, sculpture, and more recently ceramics, serve as a medium for the physical manipulation and "dirtiness" of digital images. In the exhibition, artworks such as Mate (2014) blur the lines between digitization and sculpture, and the physicality of "being a person." Embracing this ambiguity, the exhibition seeks to uncover a break in the smooth surfaces of our mediated world. The limitations of the image and screen are exposed through human emotion and voice, challenging the virtualization of our feelings and the surveillance of both objects and ourselves. The exhibition presents a body of work that emphasizes Hart's intermingling of materials and daily experiences. Pushing sculpture into the realm of images, the exhibition aims to awaken more life and embarrassment out of them, disrupting the digital flattening of our reality.

The artworks, initially commissioned by and presented at the Folkestone Triennial in 2014, were first displayed in an abandoned domestic house in Folkestone. However, at the Austrian Cultural Forum, the setting is of a different caliber, with grand salons and butler's staircases providing the backdrop for Hart's work. Despite the change in surroundings, the underlying themes of Hart's work remain palpable. Visitors can observe figures with overstretched arms, hurriedly descending a staircase in a state of embarrassment, as depicted in "The Pits" (2014). The over-the-top floral photographs on the trays demand attention, while the images concealed on the superficially superior clipboards are only partially revealed, leaving the viewer to ponder their secret content. The exhibition, which spans the two upper floors of the Austrian Cultural Forum, is not focused on a central theme, instead, the works maneuver throughout the space, offering their own unique perspectives.

Emma Hart lives and works in London; her work has featured in exhibitions and performances both in the UK and internationally. These include the solo exhibitions ‘Spread’, Art Exchange (2015); ‘Giving It All That’, Folkestone Triennial (2014); ‘Dirty Looks’, Camden Arts Centre (2013); ‘M20 Death Drives’, Whitstable Biennale (2012) and ‘TO DO’, Matt’s Gallery, London. Recent group exhibitions include ‘Only the Lonely’, La Galerie CAC, France; ‘Hey I’m Mr.Poetic’, Wysing Arts Centre (2014); ‘Bloody English’, OHWOW Gallery, Los Angeles (2013) and ‘The World Turned Upside Down’, Mead Gallery, Coventry (2013). Hart was awarded a Random Acts commission for The Jarman Award 2013. In 2012 she was shortlisted for the Jerwood /Film and Video Umbrella Awards for ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, with an exhibition at Jerwood Space, London.

She received an MA in Fine Art from the Slade University of Fine Arts in 2004 and completed her PhD in Fine Art at Kingston University in 2013. Hart is a lecturer in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London