Major film installation by Patrick Staff presented at Chisenhale Gallery

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

In February Polly Staple presents the premiere of The Foundation, a major film installation by Patrick Staff at London’s Chisenhale Gallery. This is the second project to be part-funded by the Genesis Prize, won by Polly in 2014, following on from Ed Fornieles’ Modern Family exhibition at the gallery last year.

Running from 20 February to 5 April 2015, Patrick Staff’s film explores queer intergenerational relationships negotiated through historical materials from the Tom of Finland Foundation in LA. The foundation was set up to preserve the vast collection of homoerotic art by Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, and to educate the public on the cultural merits of erotic art, promoting a healthier, more tolerant attitude towards sexuality.

This new work is the product of several years’ research and dialogue from Staff and the Tom of Finland Foundation. Staff uses documentary footage of the foundation intercut with a series of scenes, shot against the backdrop of the building’s architecture, within the register of experimental theatre.

Patrick Staff was born in the UK and lives and works between London and LA. This project at London’s Chisenhale Gallery, co-commissioned with Spike Island, Bristol; Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane; and Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, is his most ambitious and large-scale project to date.

Click here to find out more about The Foundation on the Chisenhale Gallery’s website.

Polly Staple, director of the Chisenhale Gallery, was awarded the Genesis Prize in January 2014 recognising her work as an outstanding mentor of artistic talent. The £25,000 prize supports new commissions by young artists throughout 2014 and 2015, enabling the gallery to expand the scope and quality of its programme.

After The Foundation, the next project to be supported by the Genesis Prize will be a major new commission by Berlin-based Palestinian artist Jumana Manna in September 2015. The exhibition, comprising a new film and sculptures, explores the role of cultural narratives in the formation of national ideologies. This ambitious commission is an important introduction to Manna’s work for UK audiences. More details coming soon.

To find out more about Polly Staple and the Genesis Prize click here.