Valérie Kolakis | The Duration of the Sharp Hard Outline of Things

FOLD Gallery | London is pleased to announce the continuation of our programme of solo shows. These consist of two solo shows that run simultaneously, presenting two separate bodies of work within the same space. However, there is no major physical divide within the gallery to set them apart.

The intention is to present the viewer with a unique opportunity to form their own conclusions regarding the relationships between the individual shows. The hope is that the gallery, rather than intervening, is acting as a catalyst for these events to unfold.


THE DURATION OF THE SHARP HARD OUTLINE OF THINGS

VALÉRIE KOLAKIS

OPENING | FRIDAY 23RD MAY, 6 - 9 PM

In 1917 Thomas Edison invented and patented a single pour concrete house. Originally, planned as an alternative housing solution, Edison cast only one concrete house which, years later, was torn down to make way for a supermarket and a parking lot.

In her first solo show in London, Valérie Kolakis presents us with deconstructed architectural drawings, steel rods and concrete which all hint at an ‘un-built’ house. Subtraction, vacancy and false references to the urban landscape suggest a construction in the making, or one that has been abandoned.

With a nod to Minimalist and Constructivist aesthetics, the work will create an intervention within the space. This will insert the idea of a non-existent presence where a sense that the rebuilding of an ‘object’ contradicts its function.

The decontextualisation of material suggests an emptiness - where an ambiguous quality exists - triggering a sense of displacement and transience. It is this idea of displacement and transience that questions how identity is constructed and subsequently constrained by physical spaces and how a society occupies them.