Stuart Semple: Suspend Disbelief, Bauer Art Foundation, London

Stuart Semple (b.1980) invites visitors to suspend disbelief, to take a dive of trust into the fictitious and turn away from essential truths as he presents a new solo exhibition at the Bauer Art Foundation. Suspend Disbelief presents Semple’s latest body of work including paintings, sculptures and installations exploring life, death and entertainment and runs 16 – 21 October.

Coinciding with London’s Frieze week, Semple’s interactive exhibition finds its home in an imposing 19th century townhouse overlooking Regent’s Park. With a secluded garden and four floors of artwork and installations, visitors can meander right through Semple’s work, uncovering new gems around every corner.

Whilst Suspend Disbelief reveals Semple’s ongoing preoccupation with anxiety and isolation, triggered by a near-death experience as a teenager, new interests in his process, subject matter and philosophy also begin to emerge in this latest exhibition. For the first time, large-scale paintings, installations and signs of a haunting fascination with ideas of superstition and illusion creep into his body of work.

In this diverse assortment of pieces, Semple’s works will provide a real focal point for discussion, including Happycloud Room (2013) featuring a smiley-faced cloud installation and Bloom (2013), an entrancing 360° projection of thousands of brilliantly coloured flowers in perpetual bloom. The Effect (2013) a life-sized hologram of Stuart performing various magic tricks, emphasises the human tendency to believe something that isn’t possible, whilst Omega (2013) incorporates a mass of radios in tune to the left-over radiation from the Big Bang that signals both the beginning and end of time. Finally Jump (2013) presents a giant bouncing-room, inviting visitors to physically suspend themselves over and over again, playfully and uninhibitedly jumping away from the everyday realities and anxieties.

Stuart Semple: Suspend Disbelief, 16-21 October at Bauer Art Foundation, 4 Hanover Terrace, Regents Park, London NW1 4RJ. For more information visit www.stuartsemple.com

Credits
1. Days of Miracle and Wonder, Stuart Semple, courtesy of the artist.