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The Thing is the Thing (curated exhibition)

‘The Thing is the Thing’, curated by Benet Spencer, was a group exhibition that brought together seven artists whose work presents an idiosyncratic response to science and technology. Underlying themes include the relationship between Minimalism in the 1960s and science fiction, and the significance of the revival of the modernist ethic within contemporary Fine Art practice.

A critique of the modernist ideal, and its legacy within contemporary art, is central to Spencer’s painting practice. He uses curated exhibitions as a means of re-framing the debate in the context of the work of other artists, and to develop related critical theory. Integral to the work of these artists are archetypal elements such as the formalist principles of modernism, reflected in colour, geometry and pattern, which are re-examined in the context of science, technology or architecture. Alongside are iconographic images of fictitious modernist structures, as well as culturally-mediated and personal reinterpretations of images and objects from both science and science fiction.

Taking Frank Stella’s famous epigram ‘what you see is what you see’ as a starting point, the title references endgame strategies of the late modernist period. As well as the six-week exhibition and related catalogue and essay, Spencer chaired a public seminar discussion with 4 of the exhibiting artists as part of SLAM last Friday art opens, and he gave a Fine Art Research Unit talk on the theme of the show at Anglia Ruskin University in 2012. The Artist Studio Company are the leading provider of studio space in London, and the gallery is a large independent project space, managed by the ASC gallery committee. This exhibition was financially supported by ASC, with the catalogue funded by Anglia Ruskin University.