David Cotterrell at Danielle Arnaud Venice

WUNDERKAMMERN
Camere delle Meraviglie

17 May to 26 November 2023

Wunderkammer (envy) 8 channel lenticular video presented through pepper's ghost vitrines, accompanied by occasional ephemeral projection

To coincide with this year Architectural Biennale the artist David Cotterrell proposes a series of impossible assemblages of artefacts, vignettes and insects questioning the appropriation of culture and the trade in knowledge and power. Using three auto-stereoscopic screens and projectors, Cotterrell will present his latest experiments in holographic illusion and shadow projection imagining the virtual repatriation of artefacts. 

This presentation, which is linked to the history and myths of Venice, is part of an on-going programme of independent projects in Venice by the gallery artists.

David Cotterrell is an installation artist working across media and technologies to explore the social and political tendencies of a world at once shared and divided. The practice is typified by an interest in intersection: whether fleeting encounter or heavily orchestrated event, Cotterrell's works explore the human condition and the breaks or nuances that can lead to a less ambiguous understanding of the world they inhabit.

Encapsulating the roles of programmer, producer and director, Cotterrell works to develop projects that can embrace the quiet spaces that are the sites for action, which might (or might not) be clearly understood in the future.

For the past few years, Cotterrell, together with Sri Lankan playwright and theatre director Ruwanthie de Chickera have created Empathy & Risk, an interdisciplinary initiative supported by the Global Challenge Research Fund and adopted as a strategic research priority for Sheffield Hallam University. Their research seeks to consider the staged challenges to empathy that occur long prior to the descent into the polarised engagement of military forces. Empathy & Risk brings together and encourages dialogue between a wide international network of academics, research centres, INGOs, practitioners and projects.

Cotterrell's work has been commissioned and shown extensively in museums, galleries and the public realm within Europe, North America and Asia. He is Research Professor of Fine Art, and Director of the Culture & Creativity Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University. He is a recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize and his work appears in several collections including Imperial War Museum, London and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

With special thanks to ALIOSCOPY, Paris, for the generous loan of the auto-stereoscopic 3-D screens.

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Please contact Danielle Arnaud at danielle@daniellearnaud.com for further details.