ROBERT MONTGOMERY Shiny Coloured Amusements for the Walls of the Bourgeoisie

MALAT JD GALLERY 1 ROBERT MONTGOMERY

‘Shiny Colourful Amusements for the Walls of the Bourgeoisie’ is a solo exhibition by UK based artist, Robert Montgomery. Montgomery, renowned for his large, public light installations and distinctive black and white billboard works, presents a selection of lightworks made especially for the exhibition. The show also combines his illustrious lightwork technique that is well known to viewers, with new works that celebrate the artist’s return to other mediums such as painting and an electrifying exploration of colour.

Whilst many artists become synonymous with one artistic medium, Robert is rather associated with a particular kind of poetic phrasing — loosely applying the principle of “concrete poetry” across an array of media, he brings words alive in watercolour, fire poems, solar powered light installations, woodcut panels, billboards and paintings. His work sits somewhere in-between a tradition of contemporary language art seen in artists like Tracey Emin, Jenny Holzer and Lawrence Weiner, and an older tradition of concrete poetry that goes back to Guillaume Apollinaire and in Britain to Ian Hamilton Finlay and Edward Lucie-Smith.

JD Malat Gallery is proud to cultivate Montgomery’s comprehensive exhibition history, having had numerous solo exhibitions across the world, most recently at the Aspen Art Museum in January 2019. Not to mention, Montgomery has presented many important exhibitions in the United Kingdom, such as being shortlisted for the UK Holocaust Memorial, showcased at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Montgomery has also had a strong Biennale presence worldwide, representing Britain at Kochi Biennale in 2012 and the Yinchuan Biennale in 2016.

Montgomery is part of many public and private collections worldwide including the Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chichester, UK, Manja Gideon Collection, Geneva, Switzerland, Wassner Collection, New York, USA, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA, Edinburgh Art Festival Collection, Edinburgh, UK, LVMH Collection, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China, Collection of Patrick Van Ommeslaeghe, Antwerp, Belgium, Artshare Collection, Los Angeles, USA, Luepertz Collection, Berlin, Germany, Casa dell Arte Collection, Bodrum, Turkey and the Albright Knox Museum, New York, USA.

1 2 3 4 5 6 Robert Montgomery Mantra Painting (The End of Grief), 2019 Ara acrylic and glaze on canvas 100 x 100 cm . 39 x 39 in

7 8 Robert Montgomery Annunciation Painting (Enemies of the Icebergs and the Stars), 2019 Ara acrylic and glaze on canvas 190 x 120 cm . 190 x 120 in 9 10 Robert Montgomery Mantra Painting (Money Is A Superstition), 2019 Ara acrylic and glaze on canvas 150 x 150 cm . 59 x 59 in 11 12 Robert Montgomery Annunciation Painting (Angry Flowers), 2019 Ara acrylic and glaze on canvas 156 x 90 cm . 61 x 35 in

13 14 Robert Montgomery Mantra Painting (The Beginning of Hope), 2019. Ara acrylic and glaze on canvas. 135 x 135 cm . 53 x 53 in

15 16 Robert Montgomery Annunciation Painting (Famous Gutters), 2019 Ara acrylic and glaze on canvas 165 x 125 cm . 65 x 49 in 17 18 Robert Montgomery A HUNDRED YEARS, 2014 Black Valchromat, Filcris recycled PVC, wood, paint, 12volt LED lights and copper 190 x 137 cm . 75 x 54 in Edition 3 of 5.

19 20 Robert Montgomery ALL PALACES, 2014 Filcris recycled PVC, wood, paint, 12volt LED lights and copper 110 x 306 cm 43 x 120 in Edition 3 of 5.

21 22 Robert Montgomery Splendid Monuments. 2013 Oak, polymer, 12 Volt LED Lights 181.6 x 182.9 x 20.3 cm . 71.5 x 72 x 8 in Edition of 2 with 1 AP. 23 24 Robert Montgomery WHENEVER YOU SEE THE SUN, 2014 Filcris recycled PVC, wood, paint, 12volt LED lights and copper 167 x 152 cm . 66 x 59 in Edition 3 of 5.

25 26 Robert Montgomery The Sea Has No Name For America, 2018 Fire poem performance. Bombay Beach Biennale, California Giclée on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 162 × 108,9 cm . 64 x 43 in Edition 2 of 5.

27 28 Robert Montgomery Woodcut Panel (One Day), 2019 Pure gold leaf, tarnished gold and gold paint on carved wood. 97 x 97 cm . 38 x 38 in Edition 1 of 5.

29 30 Robert Montgomery New Psychic Love Wave, 2017 Acrylic and oil on canvas 101,5 x 101,5 cm . 400 x 400 in

31 32 Robert Montgomery CV Born 1972, Chapelhall Scotland, United Kingdom

Lives and works in London, United Kingdom

Selected Solo Exhibitions Selected Group Exhibitions Sublime · Kursiv . James Lee Byars, Christian Boltanski, Douglas Selected Group Exhibitions Gordon, Robert Montgomery etc. Anna Jill Lupertz Gallery at 2018 “Estuary Poem for Wyndham Lewis” One Canada 2019 JD Malat Gallery, at Contemporary Istanbul Epicentro Art, Berlin. Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chichester, UK Square, Canary Wharf, London. JD Malat Gallery at Seattle Art Fair Noir Clair , curated by Barbara Polla and Victor de Bonnecaze, Manja Gideon Collection, Geneva, Switzerland Madison Gallery at Art Market San Francisco, Galerie Vanessa Quang, Paris, France. Florence Welch Collection, London 2017 “Hammersmith Poem and Love Letters to Kazimir Madison Gallery Wealth . Mass, London. Michael Stipe Collection, New York, USA Malevich” Cob Gallery, London. Oneliners , KOP, Breda, Netherlands. Wassner Collection, New York, USA “Parasolstice” Parasol Unit Art Foundation, London. 2018 “In Our Dreams We See Forever” Commission for the Royal Whenever An Angel. solo show, Galerie Analix-Forever, Geneva Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA “Hammersmith Poem” Hammersmith Town Hall, London. Society for Blind Children, travelling the UK. A Gathering (curated by Maria-Thalia Carras & Edinburgh Art Festival Collection, Edinburgh, UK “E-Luminate Cambridge” Kings College Cambridge. Olga Hatzidaki), Athens Festival. LVMH Collection. 2016 “Year of the Propaganda Corrupted Plebiscites” Art St Barth, Valentine de Badereau Gallery, St Barths Work on permanent display at Dior Homme space, Soho, New York, USA Mannerheim Gallery, Paris. 2017 “Frieze Billboards” billboard works, Shoreditch, East London. Henrik Wobbe Collection, Hamburg, Germany “Year of the Corrupted Eclipse” Printspace, London. “The UK Holocaust Memorial Shortlist” Victoria & Albert 2011 Fire of Each Other . solo show Galerie Nuke, Paris. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China “To Fast to Live Too Young to Die” solar powered Museum, London. And Like This You Keep Them Alive/On Love. Neue Berliner Benoit Pierre Emery Collection, Paris, France installation for the Climate Coalition at Osterley Park, “The Book of the Word” (curated by Michael Petry) Helsinki Räume. Berlin. Collection of Patrick Van Ommeslaeghe, Antwerp, Belgium London. Contemporary, Helsinki. All Palaces Are Temporary Palaces. Courtyard of the Palais CharlieandElizabethCetinCollection, London, UK “Election Poem” Flying Leaps, London. de Tokyo Paris. 2015 “Robert Montgomery” Cer Modern Museum, Ankara The Streets Belong to No One. Truck on the streets of the Gianni and Michael Alen-Buckley Collection, London, UK “Robert Montgomery” Istanbul’74, Istanbul. 2016 “Cardiff Contemporary” Cardiff, Wales. Galata neighbourhood. Casa dell Arte project collateral UK Municipal Collection “Chapter 6 in Which We Sit Like Docile Cattle While You “Yinchuan Biennale” Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary to the 12th Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul. Saalfelden Leogang, Salzburg, Austria Use the Aesthetics of Punk Rock to Sell Credit Cards Art, China. “La Littorale- Biennale d’art Contemporain All Palaces Are Temporary Palaces . Lyon Artshare Collection, Los Angeles, USA Back to Us” Galerie Nuke and Istanbul ‘74, Galerie Nikki d’Anglet” Anglet, Sud-Ouest France. Docks , Docks Art Fair Program, Lyon. Luepertz Collection, Berlin, Germany Diana Marquandt, Paris. “Nuart Festival” Stavanger, Norway. Orientale* . curated by Maurizio Bortolotti and Shwetal Patel Jacques Esseberg Collection, Paris and St Tropez, France “People You Love” installation at The Southbank Centre, “A New Language: Root 1066 collateral to the Venice Biennale.Chiesa delle Zitelle, Venice. Dick Institute Collection, Scotland, UK London, for National Poetry Day. Festival” Hastings, England. Royal Wedding Poem (gesso panel version). Scope Foundation Casa dell Arte Collection, Bodrum, Turkey “The Stars Pulled Down For Real” Public project for All “The Crystal Ship” Oostende, Belgium. project with Galerie Analix Forever, Scope Art Basel, Basel. Albright Knox Museum, New York, USA Rise Seattle. “Poetry For Change” K ulturno Informativni Centar, Zagreb, Royal Wedding Poems. Billboard series, London. “Robert Montgomery” Istanbul’74, Istanbul. Croatia. Génération Polluée: Davide Bertocchi, Cyprien Gaillard, Camille Education “I was dancing when I was 8 : as French protestant “Still Future” Dick Institute, Kilmarnock, Scotland. Henrot, Marc Horowitz, Robert Montgomery, Douglas White . middle class diaspora panic reached its height around Icona Prize , Museo Mart, Verona Galerie Nuke, Paris. BA Edinburgh College of Art, 1st Class Honours 1993 1556, refugee goldsmiths arriving in high Calvinist MFA Edinburgh College of Art 1995 Geneva landed in their new home of free-thought finding 2015 “Bodies Burning at the Edges, Thomas Beal, Robert 2010 Trees . Galerie Analix Forever, Geneva. Core Program Artist-in-Residence, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1995-97 themselves forbidden from making jewelry or any Montgomery, Jacolby Satterwhite, Kiki Smith” LeRoy Neiman Heart of Glass . 20 Hoxton Square Projects, London. Visiting Professorships other objects of idolatry”, and so were forced to begin Gallery, Columbia University, New York. The People You Love Become Ghosts Inside of You. Scope Visiting Artist, Fine Art Media, The Slade School of Art, London 2014 Bartlette their sullen and centuries long sexually-repressed “Sunday in the Park with Ed” Display Gallery, London. Foundation project with Galerie Analix Forever, Scope Art Basel, Critique Visiting Artist, University of Newcastle 2016 Visiting Artist, Chelsea fetishisation of watches + Smalltown Boy + the tragedy of Basel. College of Art, London 2017 Glasgow Rangers / a small but sustained cry against 2014 3 Poems About Buildings and Trees, Nuit Blanche Brussels I Won’t Give Up. with Fabio Paleari, Resistance Inc and Calvin inspired by Marc Bolan and Bronski Beat” . Galerie LA Billboard poems , curated by Do Art Foundation and Art Guido Costa Analix Forever Geneva [solo show]. Share, Los Angeles. Projects at Coningsby Gallery, London. “Searock Songlines.” Public project curated by Marc Louvre Fire Poem , Jardin des Tuileries, Paris. Cars & Bikes . Galerie Analix Forever, Geneva. Fiedler Saalfelden Leogang, Austria [solo show]. Istanbul Fire Poem , IST Festival, Istanbul. Don’t Jump - Mary Heilman, Robert Montgomery, Julie Ryan, Fields of Vision , Grand Depart Tour de France, Yorkshire Lawrence Weiner. Galerie Bigger Better Space, Vienna. 2014 Piles of Dirt and Glass You Walk Upon , solo show. Galerie Festival, England. The People You Love Become Ghosts Inside of You . Colette, Paris. Ian Hamilton Finlay, Robert Montgomery, Lawrence Wiener . The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill. Anna Jil Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin. 2013 Echoes of Voices in the High Towers. solo show. Galerie Still Future , The Arts Complex, Edinburgh. 2009 Words in the City at Night. Billboard Series. London. Nuke, Paris. Utopia/Distopia . The Grand Palais, Paris (Art Paris program). 2013 Affordable Care , Manya Wynwood, Miami. Learning by Doing: 25 Years of Artist’s in Residence at the MFAH . 2012 Robert Montgomery: Echoes of Voices in the High Towers. Solo Show C24 Gallery, New York. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. solo show part 2, Neue Berliner Räume, Stattbad Wedding, Quand l’art Prend la Ville, Defacto, La Défense, Paris. and billboard sites, Berlin. Edinburgh Fire Poem . Commission for the Edinburgh Art 2008 I Won’t Give Up. collaboration with Fabio Paleari, Guido Costa Robert Montgomery: Echoes of Voices in the High Towers. Festival, The Mound, Edinburgh. Projects, Turin. solo show, Neue Berliner Räume, site of old Tempelhof In Dreams . Cob Gallery, London. Airport and billboard sites, Berlin. Sculpture al Fresco III, Great Fosters,Surrey, England. 2007 Strategic Art Getts . curated by Neil Mulholland. The Embassy, It Turned Out This Way cos You Dreamed it This Way . Solo City is Wilder . Installation at Kater Holzig, Anna Jil Lüpertz Edinburgh. show KK Outlet and billboard sites London. Gallery, Berlin. Dazed & Confused versus Andy Warhol . THE BALTIC, Tokyo Billboards , Harajuko. Each X Other Projects. Newcastle-Gateshead. 2011 Fire of Each Other . Galerie Nuke, Paris. 2012 The Kochi-Muziris Biennale , Fort Kochi, Kerala, India. 2006 The Circle of Dead Grass Where the Circus Used to Be, Sean 2009 Emotional Emergency ., Analix Forever Gallery, Geneva. Closer . Spinello Projects, Miami. Flynn, David Fryer, Robert Montgomery. Trolley Gallery, London. Le Printemps de Septembre à Toulouse. Curated by Words in the City at Night. The Margaret Thatcher Project, 2008 Derniers Jours: May 68/May 08. solo show, Galerie Nuke, Paris Paul Ardenne. Toulouse, France. New York. From The Age of The Poets. Cy Twombly, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Robert Montgomery etc , Aanat & Zoo, Berlin. 2005 God is Bored of U s. Fast Moving Consumer Goods, London. Preposterous . La Scatola, London. WordsintheCityatNight, London

33 34 35 36 Special Thanks: Victoria Aboucaya Dylan Jones Jean-David Malat Robert Montgomery Lara Ustunberk

Photographer: Ben Westoby Graphic Designer: Rafael Barros

[email protected]

30 Davies Street, London W1K 4NB + 44 203 746 68 30 www.jdmalat.com

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