Beautiful Freaks – Installation at Dalston Superstore
For a few hours only, some of London’s iconic creatures of the night – Jonny Woo, Ryan Styles, A Man To Pet, Pia, Miss Transforma and Alex Collins – can tonight be seen not only within Ralf Obergfell’s photographs, but also scrutinised, in the flesh, amid a maze of installations and performance spaces created by artist and set designer Tony Hornecker.
Drawing inspiration from Victorian peep shows and freak shows, along with films such as Dark Days and Bladerunner, while utilising a myriad of purposefully non-glitz materials – rusty metal, twisted steel and discarded domestic appliances – Hornecker’s temporary constructions offer raw and robust contrasts to the unabashed vibrancy of those whom feature in Obergfell’s work.
The talent for transformation that characterises these subterranean superstars has been positively encouraged, with Hornecker offering each of them a highly-personalised physical and mental ‘zone’ in which to push their boundaries and unleash their own site-specific scenarios. These include: Jonny Woo’s constant re-reveal from behind two way mirrors; Ryan Styles’ Great Escape upon a thousand balloons; Pia’s gender illusion in a corridor of distorted reflections; Alex Collins as a bird of paradise imprisoned in a prism of magnifying glasses; Miss Transforma with her imaginative use of staples and cosmic costumery… not to mention a Cocky Lad in speedos and the Unhappy Sailor.
However, the usual prolongued gaze and interactive possibilities of an audience en masse have, in this instance, been
mischeviously subverted by Hornecker, who has almost entirely sealed off the performers from onlookers. Instead, with curiosity aroused, we are individually invited to peek into their magical worlds – glimpsed furtively through keyholes, small openings, two way mirrors and cracks in walls. The opening night of Beautiful Freaks offers a Private View in more ways than one, then.
Jeanettes Shop Facade
Read a review at Dazed Digital, Urban Junkies, Insideout Topshop, Mandi Lennard @ Colette, The Convenience Store, Hapsical
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