In August 1964, David Medalla, Guy Brett, Paul Keeler, Gustav Metzger and Marcello Salvadori began to publish Signals Newsbulletin as part of the Centre for Advanced Creative Study, which they had set up in Medalla and Keeler’s apartment in Cornwall Gardens, South Kensington. The newsbulletin declared the group’s aim to be ‘dedicated to the adventures of the modern spirit’ and presented a wide range of international art, alongside and often fused with poetry and progressive articles on architecture, agriculture, technology and science, among other topics. Alongside the newsbulletin, the group held early exhibitions at the Cornwall Gardens address, but Signals truly came into being with the opening of a gallery in a four-storey space on Wigmore Street in central London where they were able to present multiple exhibitions on a larger scale.The constantly evolving and dynamic nature of their exhibition programme created a fertile ground for experimentation and the coalescing of a genuine internationalism of various social and cultural approaches together and it is from this position that this exhibition at S│2 London seeks to continue the conversation and ethos of Signals.
‘At the time of Signals, I went to London very often, almost every week we went to Signals because there was the opportunity to meet with friends, to talk, and above all, [to hear] what was being discussed at the time. It was an extremely rich time, very nourishing spiritually.’ Carlos Cruz-Diez, In conversation at the Artist's Home in Paris, 26 February 2018
During its two years of existence, Signals London brought together a network of Latin American, European, Asian, and North American artists in London. The history of Signals as a place for artists from across the world to gather and experiment without limits has rarely been told and holds as much relevance today as it did during the early sixties in London.
‘They were all about my own age or possibly a bit younger and they were interested in breaking the traditional confines of the British art world.’ Liliane Lijn, Interview of Liliane Lijn by Sylvia Kouvali, 7-8 March 2018
A new book will be published on the occasion of the exhibition including previously unpublished photographs from the archive of Signals photographer and artist Clay Perry, as well as interviews with Signals founder David Medalla, and Liliane Lijn and Carlos Cruz-Diez recollecting on their personal experiences of exhibiting at the gallery.
The exhibition at S│2 London will bring together works by artists such as David Medalla, Takis, Sergio Camargo, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Mira Schendel, Lygia Clark, Antonio Calderara, Liliane Lijn, Gerhard von Graevenitz, Mary Martin, Hélio Oiticica, Li Yuan-Chia and many others. The format and presentation of the exhibition at S│2 London will echo the fluid and shifting character of Signals itself, with the gallery rehung every few weeks encouraging new conversations and visual synergies between all the artists and their works. We invite our audience to visit the exhibition multiple times over the course of the two month run period.
Signals expands the aims of S│2 London to present the work of artists who are art historically important and influential but may be currently undervalued by the market, in line with the gallery’s 2017 exhibition programme instigated by Darren Leak and Bianca Chu, further to their appointments in January 2017.
Guy Brett, extract from Exploding Galaxies: The Art of David Medalla, London, 1995. - Mit freundlicher Genehmigung von: sothebys.com
