*Time Out, Martin Herbert, Tue Aug 28, 2007

 *The London Paper, Lucy Bayley, Tue Aug 28, 2007

 *Reach Magazine, September, 2007

 *a-n Magazine October 2007   

'Repetition and Sequence’ treads lightly on familiar territory, 
and many of the artists utilise pre-established artistic language 
to translate replication and sequence into a poetic aesthetic. 
The remit of the exhibition is one of resolute aestheticism and 
there is little discernable attempt to advance or question 
preconceptions on the nature of art. Yet, it is not without its 
small pleasures and whilst it operates in a formalist domain, 
from this microcosm emerges works that subtly harness visual 
metaphor to augment philosophical and poetic reflection albeit 
of a whimsical tenor.

The initial encounter of the exhibition presents a sensual audio
-visual experience characterised by its delicacy; the boundaries 
of the works by Zadok Ben-David, Suki Chan, Silia Ka Tung and 
Emilia Izquierdo, effortlessly blur. This effect is reflective of 
a curatorial attempt to create cohesiveness otherwise lacking 
throughout the exhibition. These works form the hearth of the 
exhibition, serving to establish and define its parameters. Zadok 
Ben-David’s Black field, a beautifully constructed floor piece 
consisting of miniature and intricate plants and flowers of 
various shapes and hues, immediately grasps attention. Moving 
around these faux botanical creations, colours undulate and 
disperse, their appearance in constant flux. This certainly 
intimates immense technical skill; however the suspicion emerges 
that this is an attempt to provoke clichéd introspection on the 
inevitable nature of transience, the silkiness of its execution 
is subdued by cumbersome expounding.

Similarly, Suki Chan’s In Silence is hurled against two adjacent 
gallery walls with an admirable enthusiasm, its painstakingly 
created contours ripple and mesmerise, but playful aestheticism 
can only entertain for so long. However, the sporadic yet 
strangely melodic chimes emitted from the accompanying 
audio piece lend an enchanting texture to both Chan’s and 
the surrounding exhibits.

The rhythm of the exhibition is ruffled by a defiant interjection 
by Ludovica Gioscia, entitled Pop Arzigogolo. The work genuinely 
engulfs and its multiple layers of colour and illusion are variously 
created through the devise of relief and hypnotic geometric 
patterns. Gioscia explains that the work was intended as a history 
of club culture and this would explain the pastiche aesthetic. In 
this trans-historical and multi-faceted visual sensation Gioscia 
brazenly adorns the wall with references to popular culture ranging 
from sixties psychedelic patterns, Hells Angelesque skulls, acid 
house smiley faces – even allusions to William Morris’s arts and 
craft style through gothic chic. Intriguingly a rococo print has 
been included, depicting a classical arch adorned by frolicking 
putti which seems to consummate the baroque theatricality of 
the piece.

Pop Arzigogolo, which is full of wonderful conceits that play with 
the act of looking and dismantle visual prejudice, also relates to 
Gioscia’s experience of growing up in Rome, a multi-layered city 
crafted and manipulated according to the ideologies of its various 
rulers. The piece, Gioscia feels (and it would be hard to disagree), 
is a reflection of the visual sensibility cultivated by living in Rome. 
This is epitomised by the works’ abundant layers of history and style: 
sometimes organic and floral, at others rectilinear and totalitarian.

Rana Begum’s No 116 situated in the entrance hall briskly reacquaints 
us with the previously established demeanour of the exhibition. 
Ostensibly, it is visually equivalent to sonic wallpaper and the 
uniformity of its appearance perceived when approaching it from the 
side is disrupted when your eyes move across its surface. Yet it is 
to some extent a flat visual experience, lacking in intellectual depth. 
Indeed, ‘Repetition and Sequence’ is an exhibition of silky panache 
that avails itself to providing aesthetic rather than cerebral 
gratification, but from the outset it never sought to re-invent the 
wheel and must be viewed on these terms.

William McCrory

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