Extended through March 18, 2023
About
Gagosian is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Adam McEwen. Opening on January 26, 2023, this will be McEwen’s first solo gallery exhibition in London.
The exhibition on Davies Street introduces new obituary works by McEwen, who is returning to this ongoing series for the first time in over a decade. As with the artist’s paintings and life-size sculptures made of graphite and other materials, these works operate between the familiar and the uncanny, optimism and oblivion.
In London, blown-up facsimiles of obituaries are dedicated to well-known people including musicians Grace Jones and Dolly Parton, tech philosopher Jaron Lanier, and climate activist Greta Thunberg. Contemporary public figures with a diverse range of life stories and accomplishments, all of them are in fact still alive.
Begun in 2000, the series predates the ubiquity and ambiguities of social media in its consideration of history, truth, and fiction. The obituary works initially emerged from McEwen’s previous experience of writing obituaries part-time while a young artist in London. They reflect the roles that his selected subjects have played in defining contemporary understandings of the environment, technology, spirituality, culture, and identity.
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In Conversation
Adam McEwen and Ian Penman
In conjunction with his exhibitions Adam McEwen at Gagosian in London, and Adam McEwen: XXIII at Gagosian in Rome, the artist sits down with author Ian Penman to discuss his new obituary works and graphite sculptures.
Adam McEwen: An Act of Love
Contemporary artists Adam McEwen and Jeremy Deller met up online over the holiday season to discuss McEwen’s upcoming exhibitions in London and Rome. McEwen delves into the motivations and criteria behind his work, as well as the challenges and complexities of memorializing the living.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Spring 2023
The Spring 2023 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available, featuring Roe Ethridge’s Two Kittens with Yarn Ball (2017–22) on its cover.