We saw a preview for images within the festival PHotoEspaña 2014. Now Galería Helga de Alvear, is delighted to announce Isaac Julien’s PLAYTIME film, specially conived in three screens for the gallery in Madrid.
PLAYTIME is set across three cities defined by their role in relation to capital: London, a city transformed by the deregulation of the banks; Reykjavik, where the 2008 global financial crisis began; and Dubai, one of the Middle East's burgeoning financial markets. Part documentary and part fiction, the work follows six main protagonists – the Artist, the Hedge Fund Manager, the Auctioneer, the House Worker, the Art Dealer, and the Reporter - interconnecting figures in the world of art and finance with the real stories of individuals deeply affected by the crisis and the global flow of capital.
What drives people to cross continents in search of a “better life” is a question that has underpinned much of Julien’s work over the past decade, and in responding to the question he repeatedly returns to the same answer: capital. PLAYTIME thus follows on from Julien’s acclaimed nine screen installation Ten Thousand Waves (2010), which is part of several collections, and now of MoMA´s collection in New York. Ten Thousand Waves, offers a response to the Morecambe Bay tragedy of 2004, where twenty-three Chinese cockle pickers were lost at sea, and Western Union: small boats (2007), which explores the perilous voyages of those attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Africa to gain entry into “fortress Europe,” a story that has tragically dominated the news headlines once again in recent months.
Venue .- Helga de Alvear Gallery. C/ Doctor Fourquet 12. 28012 Madrid. Spain.
Dates.- 15.01 – 16.05.2015.
