Exhibition will open on 10th of January 2014 at 8 pm.
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Through his films and installations, Duncan Campbell investigates how meaning and history are constructed and mediated. The artist’s work examines historical events and their interpretation, and tests the boundaries between the factual and fictive. The captivating power of Campbell’s films is derived from their specific collage structures and fragmentary narratives, unusual sound editing, montage of black and white and color footage, dazzling animated excerpts and quotes from the history of experimental film. The films re-contextualize the authentic archival film material by combining it with the newly shot scenes—re-enacted episodes filmed in 16mm by Campbell himself—and challenge the viewer to navigate through their open-ended fables.
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In Zagreb, the artist will present his acclaimed film Bernadette (2008, 37’). While giving a portrayal of Bernadette Devlin, the controversial Irish republican member of parliament and civil rights activist from the late 1960s, the film also captures wider political, social and cultural struggles, civil unrest and political leaders during Northern Ireland’s The Troubles era. However, rather than giving a simplified overview of the struggle between Republicans/the IRA and the British government and loyalists, or the common heroic presentation of Bernadette Devlin’s fiery character, Campbell focuses on how her charismatic persona was constructed through television news footage. Bernadette questions the notion of truth and objectivity usually claimed by the documentary form, by subverting its usual norms and structure. The artist appropriates and re-edits the television archival material while adding the self-shot fragments. The original audio is accompanied by narration of contemplative kind – a script that combines parts from Devlin’s autobiography and the artist’s own writings, in which the first and third person interchange.
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®eljka Himbele
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Duncan Campbell was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1972. He earned his BA at the University of Ulster, Belfast, and his MFA at Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow, Scotland. His work was presented internationally in solo exhibitions at Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, 2012; Hotel, London, 2011; Artists Space, New York, 2010; Tramway, Glasgow, 2010; Kunstverein Munich, 2009; and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 2008. Campbell’s work had been included in a number of group exhibitions, among them: Manifesta 9, Genk, Belgium, 2012; British Art Show 7, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham and Hayward Gallery, London 2011; Asking Not Telling, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 2009/2010; Fight The Power, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, 2009; You Have Not Been Honest, Museo D’Arte Donnaregina, Naples, 2007; Art Now, Tate Britain, London, 2006. The artist currently lives and works in Glasgow.
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Exhibition is supported by: the City of Zagreb and Ministry of Culture of Republic of Croatia
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Exhibition is open until 1st of February 2014.
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Duration of the film; 37 minutes
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