The Prenelle Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of site specific installations and sculpture by Adam Thompson and Oliver MacDonald.

The conflict between these two London based artists lies within strong stylistic differences.

Oliver Macdonald’s work hits square in the face anyone who enters his tunnelled space. It’s physical immediacy mugs the viewer’s senses; an allegory of imminent demise. The viewer must breathe air, supercharged by a huge fan installed at one end of the space. These multi-sensory stimuli conspire to produce a simulated vitesse. Context doubles as content. Up against it! The forced contemplation of ones own bodily ergonomics could pack enough clout for the analogous knockout blow, for some.

If MacDonald’s work conjures overwhelming hyper-stimulation, then Adam Thompson’s installation perhaps provokes consideration of an ensuing unconscious state. Oblivion.

Disorientation is reached through a descending darkness. Thompson here casts a more serene stage for the viewer. Light boxes positioned at opposite ends of the space act as points to reorient. Yet their allure to a closer proximity reveals that each light box displays an elusive and further distancing image. Thompson’s mono-chrome prints are images which echo a dream state. They emerge from borders of blackness offering views to infinity, or to the threshold of sublime space.

It becomes apparent that Thompson is as close-fisted as his fellow protagonist when seeming to offer the viewer an untroubled passage through this show. Every bit as likely to possess the final blow, these images suggest a different, secondary oblivion, quietly waiting.

On the deck of the boat, Thomson and MacDonald will be collaborating on a further installation, this time fighting toe to toe with the elements to establish a controlled space of turf, stars, breezes and contemplation.

Adam and Oliver graduated from Goldsmiths in 2001/2002 respectively. Adam is currently showing in ‘Undertow 2’ in Japan. Oliver is currently showing in ‘The Still and Chew’ at The Pilot Art space, Hastings.