Paradise Now ~ 31 january - 5 february 2008
studio 1.1 london e2		text | images
about  present show  past shows  press  gallery details  contact		Danny Greaney, Hugh McCarthy Open Friday to Sunday, 12noon - 6pm, or by appointment. Private view: Thursday 31st January, 6 - 9pm. Danny Greaney and Hugh McCarthy's joint work for studio 1.1, configured to fit the galleryspace, investigates the multiple functions and forms of discarded, man-made materials. Detergent bottles, felt-tip pens, styrofoam coffee cups and plastic spoons are re-structured to resemble primitive plant-life, so that these manufactured scraps from the real world imitate the living forms their very production imperils. And with those same materials of consumerism, Greaney and McCarthy satirise the paramount commodification of art today, asking where exactly value resides. The ironic re-ordering of the worthless and un-natural detritus of modern life seems to mock organic growth and celebrate sterility. Yet the vision is not altogether dystopian: these primitive flowers sweeten the pill. Having forgotten their origins in either the cafeteria or office they propose a cartoon Eden, a paradise we were not expelled from but are busy destroying from within. The double-edged satire in Greaney and McCarthy's work reminds us of the etymological link between salvage and salvation, as they attempt to build "a Heaven in Hell's despair". The work lasts a week in the gallery, a lifetime in the landfill, and, in the memory, lingers as art. studio 1.1 sponsor For more information or images contact: Michael Keenan on 07952 986 696