Thursday 23 January – Tuesday 25 February 2020

Christian Marclay

Pavement Gallery is delighted to be presenting the work of Christian Marclay to open its new programme. ‘Look’ (2016-19), is a video work which uses stop-motion animation to present thousands of photographs of the ‘Look’ sign painted at crossings and intersections on streets in and around London.

To look seems simple – the act of directing one’s eyes in order to see. It is assumed that upon looking, we are fully comprehending what is before us. Yet as we consider this act, it becomes apparent that we are often looking, but not seeing. In everyday life we are surrounded by a range of distractions - distinctions can become blurred. Within these myriad acts of looking, the ultimate aim is attention. Looking is no longer a simple gaze into the space around us, to look is to document and to try and understand our place within the surrounding landscape.

Mixing its documentation of the urban environment with conceptual art, ‘Look’ commands its audience to focus and engage. It may be that for Marclay, art is the ultimate antidote to distraction, capturing our undivided attention. Or perhaps this exhibition, positioned in plain sight, is a 24/7 reminder to look beyond the instant distractions and see those things that most require our attention within wider society.

Raising these questions can only invite further investigation, while exhibiting this work serves as a constant reminder to look closer.