Tracey Emin has quite a bit to answer for when it comes to public displays of soul baring. Never before have artists (once champions of tacit inner-turmoil) been so eager to disclose the ‘person-behind-the-piece’. One particular pioneer in this field is Simon Evans, a former pro-skateboarder and writer who has, for the past 6 years, turned his talents to rather more visual pursuits.
See more of the exhibition
London-bred and Berlin-based, Evans, for all his cross-continental ruminating, has developed a surprisingly subtle practice, a quality foreign to a few of his undisclosed contemporaries, and one we applaud wholeheartedly.
His latest exhibition, Island Time, offers an earnest glimpse into his neurotic world. Although currently drawing to a close at New York’s James Cohan Gallery, the show, which triumphs Evans’ understated approach, has clearly made an impact and has recently been extended until 4th of April.
With charts, maps, diaries, lists and lexicons as his media of choice, Evans leads us on a pale and interesting journey through the ephemera of his life. Using found text, biro drawings and selotape sculptures to line the route, Evans’s existential musings leave us refreshed, informed and (perhaps most importantly) still interested.
Everything I have, Evans’ montaged visual list of every object he owns (ordered by colour of course) is a perfect example of the extent to which he pursues his obsessive agenda. Whilst the result may be exhaustive, we can’t help but find the minutiae of Evans’ world entirely captivating.
