Step into confusion; are you are in a fantasy world or in the uncomfortable reality of another individual? Each of the three rooms lead to the next through an arch and each has its own colour, first pink, then orange then green.
First a kitsch hair salon with clippings of bright yellow hair on the floor, an empty receptionist’s desk and a large cut out of the Wizard of Oz’s wicked witch of the west. Everything is yellow, green and pink.
Stairs lead down into the all pink room, A large white Adidas trainer as big as a bed takes centre stage.
The rooms are overwhelming in their colour. A Monster Energy drink vending machine, a plastic bong sculptures made of everyday supermarket brands. The whole show screams pop culture, adolescent kitsch. There is film, sculpture, neon wall work and a smoke machine. Small televisions play videos in which Da Corte is presented as Eminem’s alter ego Slim Shady, whom he has been embodying in this work for the past six years.
There is a feeling that you could be intruding on a private space, which is almost uncomfortable but at the same time you are completely immersed in the aesthetic. The colours and mix of haberdashery and neon are satisfying. This alternate reality is intriguing.
Megan Lowe
Volume 33.no.1 September / October 2018 p 29
Josh Lilley Gallery, BAD LAND, Alex Da Corte 7th November 2017 – 3rd February 2018