Lacon, A., 2017.

Fragments

Andrew Lacon's newly commissioned response to Gallery 1 at DCA is a bold and minimal undertaking. It takes the form of a substantial yet subtle installation across the whole gallery that challenges our expectations regarding how artworks are presented and asks questions about how certain raw materials are understood and valued in different contexts across space and time.

Lacon has long been interested in how public displays of objects can explore relationships between national culture, social class and artistic intention, and this exhibition considers these ideas by focusing on one single raw material now synonymous with the history of art and architecture: marble.

The story of this work can be traced back to a journey the artist made from Mexico City to Birmingham in 2015, carrying a cotton rucksack filled with a stack of Mexican pink marble through customs. Aspects of this journey mirror Lacon's ongoing artistic investigation into the often complex political lives of materials: how they are obtained, appropriated, and used far from their places of origin. Fragments positions these expansive ideas in a deceptively simple way, using specific colours, shapes and forms to hint at underlying narratives and overlooked histories.

For this project, which is Lacon's first solo exhibition in a UK institution, he invites us to be active participants within his work, to re-think how we move through public spaces and encounter materials, objects and artworks in the world around us.

A ramp is available for accessing parts of the exhibition. Please ask a Visitor Assistant if you require it.

Fragments, DCA 2018