The Gallery
Boffo DeluxeAnton Goldenstein
23 May - 04 July 2009
Anton Goldenstein, primarily a sculptor whose work also embraces painting, photography, interventions and recently the moving image. Goldenstein is interested in our ideals, exploits and aspirations, borrowing and stealing from history and cultures, playing with and diverting anthropological history.
Animals often play the main characters in the works, giving the viewer an objective position on situations, whether its African animals with i-pods, animals making art or animals painted in human attire, re-examining key historical moments or doing every-day activities such as relaxing in the sun with a cola or watching television. Goldenstein’s animals act out a soap opera before our eyes; the humanisation process acts as a mirror reflecting society’s hopes and fears, its proud achievements and the failures it plans to forget.
Goldenstein works with archetypes; his practice concerns itself with the everyday and the part which the hegemony and zeitgeist play in affecting our ideas and daily lives. Humour and pathos appear in equal quantities, there is an attempt to be universally understood by employing the direct and colourful languages of media and advertising. In her essay, Helen Jones suggests that the characters and scenes being played out in Goldenstein’s work form, ‘self-portraiture’, a “reflection of Goldenstein’s standpoint on evolution and the validation of his endeavour”. She adds; “Whether bearing individual characteristics or a collective viewpoint, Goldenstein explores, heightens and tests our relationship with the animal kingdom. On first glance, Boffo may appear to solely entertain but beyond the humor he reveals nature’s hidden strength: its ability to persevere through adversity. Our counterparts have the potential to further teach us about the natural rhythms, timeless patterns and harmony of everyday life – if only we stopped and listened”.
Anton Goldenstein is a Bristol based artist. After completing his MA at UWE in Bristol, he exhibited both nationally and internationally, including Lemon Sky Projects in Miami, Bloomberg New Contemporaries in Liverpool, Oriel Mostyn Open in Llandudno and also a residency at Maria Kapel Hoorn, Netherlands.
