Man of the Year

The eternal return of painting; the contest-like atmosphere of the art world; the limitations of artistic genres and the capacity of art to rebel against all expectations.

Henry Coombes (London, 1977) and Carles Congost (Spain, 1970), share a significant number of preoccupations such as these, as well as the capacity to switch between sarcasm, solemnity, and absurdity in order to approach them. Through abstract paintings, cartoon-like drawings and cinematographically-produced videos, both artists pursue to (mis)represent how the art scene replicates the hierarchies of the social world.

For their exhibition at CCA, Coombes and Congost present their latest productions. The premiere of Coombes’ new film, Two Discs and a Zed, dramatises the historical nature/culture opposition and is accompanied by some examples from his newest series of paintings. Congost, whose work is exhibited in Glasgow for the first time since its early presentation at Transmission Gallery in 1996, will present his most recent film, Paradigm, as well as other earlier projects specifically re-staged for this occasion.

The figure of the artist, and in particular of the male artist, is another of Coombes’ and Congost’s common interests. Providing a link between their own practice, the 19th century animal paintings of Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, Honoré de Balzac’s short story The Unknown Masterpiece, and more recent artistic archetypes such as the architect, the conceptual artist and the art student, Coombes and Congost reflect on inspiration, ambition, alliances and defeat.

The title of the show alludes to the prevailing sense of competition existent in the art world. Man of the Year is inspired by Time magazine’s well known series, and functions not as a conclusion but as an open question. Are Coombes and Congost the two competing artists in this exhibition? Are the characters in their films involved in a never ending game of self-promotion? Can art be a way to resist normative approaches to success and failure or does it unavoidably contribute to their long-standing survival?

Emma Brasó completed a curating fellowship at CCA in 2012, instigated by curating.info and CCA. The time in Glasgow allowed her to conduct studio visits while working on a proposal for this exhibition. The model gives curators an opportunity to be supported in the creation of a larger exhibition within an institution and will be a continued strand of CCA’s future programme.

Join Emma Brasó for a tour of the exhibition on Sun 24 November at 2pm.

Henry Coombes' Two Discs and a Zed was funded by the Creative Scotland Quality Production Arts Programme. The project was developed on the Natural Bennachie Residency, as part of The Year of Natural Scotland. In working partnership with Creative Scotland, Scottish Sculpture Studios, Forestry Commission of Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council, Rangers Service and The 'Ballies of Bennachie.

<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/80470171" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/80470171">Emma Brasó : Man of the Year</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/summerhalltv">www.summerhall.tv</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>