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Whitechapel Fell

Voss was commissioned to produce a site-specific work, Whitechapel Fell, for the exhibition London Open (July-September 2012), which aimed to bring together some of the latest developments in artistic practice at the prestigious Whitechapel Gallery, London, a touchstone for contemporary art internationally. The exhibition showcased work by thirty-five international artists selected from a list of 1,800 by a panel comprising writer Patricia Bickers, artist Rodney Graham, collector Jack Kirkland and curators Marta Kuzma and Kirsty Ogg.

In Whitechapel Fell, Voss continues to explore his central preoccupations of a flawed or problematic engagement with the natural world, with things and images of things, and with words and their multiple meanings. A one word calligraphic sign, ‘FELL’ set in a grand, nostalgically beautiful, yet generic landscape, is photographed as part of the scenery, which acts as an accomplice and foil to the text, layering and distancing the subject. This photograph, blown up to a large scale, forms the backdrop to two kitsch, yet sinister figurines of a boy and girl perched high on a metal lampstand, topped by a single illuminated light bulb. The word contains multiple, ambiguous meanings: a play on the setting, the precariousness of the figures’ position and the loss of innocence. This evocation of the great outdoors is, by the placement of the words, returned to the lexicon of advertising, becoming less about natural beauty and more about the commodification of the countryside.

Over 64,000 visitors attended the exhibition. The gallery also commissioned and produced a limited edition print (Ed. 100), a number of which have been purchased for significant collections, including the British Government Collection. The exhibition was widely reviewed in Art Monthly and national newspapers, including The Times and Financial Times and was ‘critics’ choice’ in Time Out. A catalogue, The London Open, was published.