January 21 – March 3, 2012
opening January 20, 6:30pm

Roma - Via Giulia 8

Furini Arte Contemporanea is pleased to present the first solo-show in Italy by British artist Edward Thomasson (1985 - Staffordshire, lives and works in London). The show includes the video Find a Problem To Solve, 2008, and a series of drawings entitled Voluntary Working Relationships, 2010-2011. Thomasson’s work focuses on relationships formed between individuals in groups, shifting the point of view between the inside and outside of these individuals, moving between their minds and their collected bodies.
Through a careful and critical observation of behaviour, Thomasson identifies specific facial expressions and poses and isolates movements of individuals within a group, a process that is first explored in the drawing series. These observations later become the foundation of his narrative video works. These videos, which are performed by actors, all look at how individuals engage in group activities as a way of affirming to themselves that there is something behold the limits of their own bodies.

Music also plays a central role in his video’s construction. Edward Thomasson writes the lyrics for the songs that are performed by the actors in the videos and become a part of the action. Filmed in non-descript rooms that refer to community halls, therapy or leisure centres, as well as constructed sets that resemble simplified indoor and outdoor spaces, Thomasson’s narrative works re-enact strategies and mechanisms common to television plays, instructional videos and musicals.

 

BIO Edward Thomasson studied an MA at the Slade School of Fine Art and a BA at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. Recent exhibitions include: 2011 One Another’s Company, IMT Gallery, London; Tank.tv, London. 2010  Bloomberg New Contemporaries, The A Foundation, Liverpool, touring to ICA, London; The Life Room, CHELSEA Space, London. Recent screenings: 2011  Movie Night Vol. 4: Global House Screenings, Kunsthalle Gwangju, Korea; Tomorrow's World, Nutbrook Studios, London. 2010  Should I Stay or Should I Go? A question rehearsed by RUN, CHELSEA Space, London. Recent collaborative Performances with Lucy Beech: 2011  Twist, IMT Gallery, London; 7 Year Itch, More Soup and Tart, Barbican Theatre, London; Human Resources, Platform One, Bloomsbury Theatre, London; He is currently on a residency organised by SPACE and South London Gallery which culminates in an exhibition at South London Gallery in March 2012.