Katerina Jebb, Simulacrum and Hyperbole

 

KATERINA JEBB 

Simulacrum and Hyperbole 

Thursday, September 23rd - Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010

Opening reception: Thursday, September 23rd, from 7 to 10pm

Soaked in glamour and irreverence, choking on imaginary scenarios, 60-second commercials for hypothetical unguents and longed-for elixirs are broadcast from within the walls of a waiting room facsimile. The artist fabricates fictional products and proposes these imposters as viable commercial contenders. 

There is discordance between what actually exists on television and what has been created here, as the artist’s perspective is one of unawareness of the very world that is being commented on. Jebb’s experience with television culture has been limited to random and brief glimpses throughout her life, despite the fact that she has actually directed real commercials for major brands.

She employs Oscar-winning actors and celebrities who willingly play her game with dizzying claims and phantasmagoric promises. In these works, realized with limited means and a two-person crew, the actors take their roles as seriously as they would any other, unveiling the mystique of contemporary advertising within the luxury goods strata. 

Here the seven products you cannot live without this Fall:

LIFE ERASER

Life Eraser is a radical skin care organization, with a life changing manifesto. Founded by humanitarian and activist Tilda Swinton, it is the skin cream surge for the 3rd millenium, the most expensive skin care product in existence, “but catergorically not a money spinning endeavour” states professor Swinton.

“Nano-charged nihilism for the future of your unborn skin.”

MIND AND SOUL CONTROL

Goodwill ambassador Isabelle Townsend, the former face of Ralph Lauren is now the spokeswoman for the newest pharmaceutical breakthrough. Mind and Soul Control is the secret weapon of women of all ages. One capsule every day for the rest of your life. Extremely safe low dose dimentax oxytocin acts upon the consciousness directly bypassing the central nervous system. The patient is subtly medicated, and exists in a constant state of terminal inertia. A gentle way to anaesthetize the thought process without wreaking havoc with your libido. Tried and tested with a very low suicide rate worldwide .

“It’s not you that’s the problem, it’s your life.“

ORAL FIX

Beautiful french underground star Florence Thomassin smokes. She smokes Oral Fix. Oral Fix is a biodegradable rolled tube containing all natural nicotine which the user lights and places in the mouth. On inhaling the plant substance which is highly addictive the user feels a sense of pleasure. The user is subjected to the feeling of oral gratification, in freudian psychology the satisfaction felt in infancy when the need for food, especially from the mother’s breast is fulfilled. Seen here in hommage to french new wave cinema, a rare tv ad showing the act of smoking. Oral gratification also exists in other areas of life.

“Smoking is sexy.“

REAL WOMAN

Immortal and life size, Betony Vernon, simulated as Real Woman doll, deluxe and delightful. Actually unavailable, as to popular demand. The doll woman is a singular being, capable of walking, talking, evolving, and other activities. Awaiting reissue by manufacturers.

“The real thing only better.“

BEAUTIFUL BODY

The Beautiful Body insurance company established in London in 1813, have been insuring your precious assets for two centuries. That’s why Kylie Minogue the International star and beauty chooses to place her assets in their capable hands. In a worldwide exclusive contract for an undisclosed fee, the seductive chanteur is the living breathing emblem for Beautiful Body.

“Are you assets properly covered?“

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

International superstar Arielle Dombasle is the new face of Trouble in Paradise. Trouble in Paradise is the all new transformative body subliminateur brought to you by the pioneers of Life Eraser. A mind altering, subtly hallucegenic body dust consisting of microscopic traces of sensual atomic charge capable of penetrating all depths of the dermis. Testers report an improvement in 21 days and successful contact with the soul after repeated use.

“I am not afraid to die, I was born to do this.“

JE REVIENS

Award winning actress Kristin Scott Thomas returns to the screen in Je Reviens. Each winter millions of women put their precious furs in to cold storage for preservation. Taking this principle one step further, the British Cryonics Institute has signed with award winning actress Kristin Scott Thomas to represent the company on their journey to familiarize the public with afterlife planning and cryogenic preservation. A life prolonging process where the client can rest assured that in a brighter future they will be reanimated, effectively after their own death. The wearing of fur is not advisable, as the estimated date will be sometime in 3015. Futurists predict global warming will have destroyed 68% land mass of the planet by this time.

“1-800 Programme your after life.“

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British-born artist Katerina Jebb (1962-) lives and works in Paris. An autodidact, working in several mediums, Jebb addresses the human body and it’s representation, questions gender and identity, dehumanizing the real and humanizing the artificial. She employs cheap domestic scanners, industrial sized photocopy machines and lo-fi camera equipment, often eluding post-production and editing.

Subtly existing outside of the establishment, Jebb’s work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum, the Barbican Art Gallery and the Hayward Gallery. Recent works have been acquired for the permanent collection of Le Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and Musée Réattu, Arles.

 

Image details: Katerina Jebb, Tilda Swinton Life Eraser, 2010, still from video

 

Please contact the gallery for further information:

Gloria Maria Gallery

Via Watt 32  20143 Milan  T+39 02 8708 8548 pr@gloriamariagallery.com  

www.gloriamariagallery.com