69 Regent Road: A Temple in the Present Perfect Progressive Tense

69 Regent Road: A Temple in the Present Perfect Progressive Tense

When

21.1.22 - 30.1.22    
12:00 - 18:00

Event Type

Exhibition: Thursday-Sunday 12-6pm, 21-30th January 2022

69 Regent Road, Liverpool L5 9SY
(Please enter via Fulton Street to rear)

Preview: Thursday 20 January 2022 5-9pm

Artists John Elcock and Adrian Jeans take a shared interest in Greek antiquity as the starting point for a new exhibition exploring the continued reverberations of classical thinking across the ages.

A Temple in the Present Perfect Progressive Tense explores ideas of ancient pilgrimage, philosophy and sanctuary. A range of found and created artworks will be presented in a unique, albeit dilapidated environment, yet one which shares some remarkable characteristics with the temples of antiquity. Interventions both in the warehouse and its wider dockland environment acknowledge this relationship and are informed by the model of famous Greek sanctuaries at Olympia, Delphi and Delos.

The Present Perfect Progressive tense is a verb form that can be seen in this temple/warehouse analogy. It indicates that something was happening and is still happening. The same verb tense applies to John and Adrian, whose contemporary works directly reference the ancient world and dwell upon concepts for which mankind continues to seek explanation.

Recent work by John has increasingly focused on the metaphysical properties of found objects. Discarded materials and natural forms have been modified to allow for a fuller expression of their essence of being. Other objects are more figurative in character, connecting the space to the sculpture of ancient sanctuaries so characteristic of Greek classicism.

Jeans is showing works that continue his exploration of ideas around identity from within the portrait sculpture tradition, and use the particularities of his craft to shine a distinctive light upon our perceptions of ourselves and others. With many direct and indirect references to classical thinking, his art ponders the frailty of the human condition and the malleability of the human presence within the complex social contexts of everyday life.