Threshold presents ‘CITY INTERVENTIONS 都市ã¸ã®ç¤¾ä¼šä»‹å…¥ Stadt Interventionen’ - Leopold Kessler and Shiro Masuyama
Threshold presents an exhibition featuring Japanese artist Shiro Masuyama and Austrian artist Leopold Kessler, who employ guerrilla-style and unauthorised interventions in their artwork. Kessler's belly-like object encouraged interaction from people who embraced it, engaging in actions such as kicking, punching, or squeezing the piece. On the other hand, Masuyama's work explores the boundaries of official and law-abiding behaviour. Both artists adopt a humorous perspective on the rules and authority that dominate our smart cities, highlighting how we are controlled, counted, and monetised. Through their artwork, they aim to provoke a reaction from the public and inspire them to question the presented norms and circumstances.
Shiro Masuyama åˆæ³•é§è»Š (Legal Parking)
‘Legal Parking was my first solo exhibition in Tokyo after working as a street artist for a while. It was my challenge against the police force to use the street parking for my exhibition without getting arrested. The absurd performance to keep moving exhibition cars every 60 min during the exhibition period has also dynamically linked the gallery to the real world outside. By the time the exhibition ended, it had become well known in the neighbourhood, even to local police.’
Leopold Kessler Antagometer
two videos: Antagometer (1-0123), 2021, Antagometer (Corona Protest), 2022
Leopold Kessler's interventions in legal apparatus, commercial services and public spaces are based on ingenious and dry, humorous observations of urban life and show an acute awareness of the worldly systems that keep today's society running. Kessler's works also offer a unique view of psychogeography. He does not reorganise the city with the rhetoric of hallucinatory miracles or revolutionary romanticism, but through the perspective of work, infrastructure and maintenance and transforms these systems into a stage for urban black comedies.
Exhibition dates: 27 April to mid June
Open Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday
10am-4pm
5 North Street
Belfast
BT1 1NA
Threshold Gallery is curated by Jennifer Alexander, an independent curator based in Northern Ireland.
Threshold is a new street-view gallery space in the two window displays of Flax Art Studios at 7 North Street. Curated by Jennifer Alexander, it invites artists to exhibit in flux, exploring the presentation of their work in an evolving way, and offering audiences a changing site of encounter.
Threshold is an opportunity to respond to the uniqueness of this space -Belfast’s smallest and newest gallery, with its large window displays in the oldest part of the city.
Curator Biography
Jennifer Alexander is an independent curator working in Northern Ireland. She is concerned with creating exhibitions that provoke notions of process.
Jennifer is Audience Development Assistant at Golden Thread Gallery. She was Co-Director of Catalyst Arts and currently co-curates for Belfast’s annual Re-Vision Performing Arts Festival.
Hailing from Scotland, she is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Technical & Production Theatre Arts. She worked in theatres across Scotland, focussing on lighting and sound production, before relocating to Belfast six years ago. She completed an MFA (Distinction) at Ulster University in 2020 and is a studio artist at Flax Arts Studios.