Improved: The Postcard Project

[Francesca Gavin]

Improved: The Postcard Project

Exhibition 14 April - 14 May 2005

@ Foster Art

20 Rivington Street

London EC2A EDU

The visionary artist Mati Klarwein, best known for producing psychedelic record covers for Santana and Miles Davis, spent the last decade of his life buying paintings at flea markets and charity shops. He would transform these found images into something completely different, signing his name next to the original artist's and calling them 'Improved Paintings'.

This exhibition, conceived by Francesca Gavin, takes its inspiration from Klarwein’s work. Over 50 artists have been invited to create an improved art postcard. The reinterpreted images were held together by their exploration of the naked body. The artists play with the representation of flesh. The work produced looks at issues of authorship and ownership. These destroyed, layered and reworked images question the art object as something untouchable.

The postcards were often selected and sent to the artists by Gavin. Contributors range from Brazlian street artists (Calma) to award winning authors (Michel Faber) as well as a litany of cult international artists such as Doze Green, Ed Templeton and Marcel Dzama. The results veer from delicate to gothic, painterly to political, sexy to comic. The exhibition asks us to bring back the circulation of images and memories in a world of technology.

Artists include Alison Moffett, Andrzej Klimowski, Ben Sansbury, Blanquet, Calma, The Clayton Brothers, Doze Green, Ed Templeton, Gary Baseman, Gary Taxali, Gee Vaucher, Joe Sorren, Laylah Ali, Marcel Dzama , Mark Ryden, Stephan Blanquet,

www.artjar.co.uk