Candied sensuality, anatomized gelatin, seductive artificiality

Stanley Picker Gallery is pleased to present Palatability, a collaborative showcase of recent works from artists Elodie Gatacre, Manfred Pegram and Lucas Taberna, which explores the different reasons for fabrication, synthesis and manufacture, with all ideas to be ingested in the same pleasing process.

The exhibition brings together unique but complementary works including performance, sculpture, olfactory art and video, forcing the audience to become aware of their desire to consume the art.

From challenging the reaction to culinary sensation to considering the utilisation and manipulation of people’s intimate physicality, Palatability creates an experience inexplicably linked with confronting impulsive urges of taste.

All artists are graduating Kingston School of Art Foundation Studies students.

Elodie Gatacre works in sculptural installation and performance. She draws on lived experience as well as queer theory to explore the significance of the trans body in social, political and religious contexts. By encouraging the viewer to take up a position of care, voyeurism or vulnerability she creates intimate relationships with strangers. In this collaborative exhibition, Gatacre has curated two works that explore consumption and palatability. In Chicken Fillet, she explores the trans body as a site for revolution against biopolitical ideals and the gender binary by embracing the abject artificial.

Manfred Pegram makes artwork capturing beauty in materials, playing with preconceived expectations of behaviour or ingredients, while challenging how people remember what they have seen in a gallery. Manfred entices the viewer using unsuspecting materials to pleasure them or twist what they think they’re engaged with. Human Chateaubriand, perfectly seasoned manipulates the viewers trust in their sense of taste, making them question their desires.

Lucas Taberna uses the body as his biggest source of inspiration, as well as the responsibility of creating and nurturing life. Studying toxicology, he enjoys seeing the human body in an emotionless and alchemical way. His performative and interactive installations build a personal bio-chemical relationship between himself and the audience members. Taberna talks about wanting to manipulate people “like a piece of raw clay that I can personally sculpt, or something I can crush down, add a polymer to and cast with”. His work Activating the pulp body will be exhibited at Palatability, displaying a misguided attempt to synthesise life.

This display will form part of the annual Kingston Artist Open Studios.

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