Associated with the contrived, the constructed, the inauthentic, and the unnatural, artifice is what defines all artistic creation. In this exhibition, an exploration of the status of the artificial as the antithesis of ‘nature’ or ‘truth’ is central to the approach of the 8 featured British artists. Using very different strategies and techniques, these artists focus on the complexity and uncertainty of perception, as well as on the differences and affinities between what is perceived as ‘natural’ and what is perceived as ‘artificial’. The tension between these two states has been fundamental to the history of image making. At a time when the implications of genetic modification and cloning have become a real issue, it is not surprising that the blurring of distinctions between illusion and reality should be a subject for consideration by artists.
Curated by Ann Gallagher, Artifice is organized by the British Council in collaboration with the DESTE Foundation.
