past CHG show September 7 - September 9, 2012 THE LAST SUPPER GILES WALKER Giles Walker INFO & PRESSSEE SHOW
THE LAST SUPPER
GILES WALKER
September 7 - September 9, 2012

On View September 8 – September 22, 2012
Special Location: 3521 Helms Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232

On Saturday, September 8, 2012, Corey Helford Gallery presents the American debut of UK artist Giles Walker’s extraordinary “The Last Supper.” A year in the making, this remarkable work is a fully-animated sculpture consisting of thirteen mechanical figures who interact around a table. Simultaneously humorous and disturbing “The Last Supper” surpasses the audience’s initial interest in the robotic elements of the piece and draws us into the questions it poses and the all too human aspects it addresses. It promises to leave a lasting impression on those who have the opportunity to experience it.

The work explores the recurrent cycle of guilt, violence and pain, which Walker sees as inherent within religious doctrine. By recasting Judas as a ‘guilty’ child, Walker highlights his concern with the indoctrination of children in a destructive religious morality. The artist was first drawn to this plight while nursing his terminally ill mother who continually pleaded, “what have I done to deserve this?” Walker perceived this as an unwanted relic of religious childhood teachings, which suggested that the individual is subject to greater, judge- mental influences of good and evil.

The role of religion within childhood continues to be the topic of highly politicized and provocative debate; Walker comments, “over the last few years I have become increasingly concerned and frustrated by the role that religion plays in our society.” In “The Last Supper” the artist creates a snapshot of religion within the 21st century, questioning whether religious doctrine is a good education for a young child and whether it should be so readily accepted in schools. Through his installation Walker also explores the mental abuse and invisible scars left by religious institutions, rather than the more newsworthy high-profile physical abuse cases.

He comments, “I haven’t set out to cause offense, only to question and evoke debate about the role religion plays for children within our society in 2012. If it does cause offense it certainly causes no harm. It’s not like I am the leader of a religious hierarchy that protects and thus prolongs systematic rape of children in their care; that’s offensive and harmful. It’s not like I bomb 200,000 innocent Iraqi civilians whilst claiming to be in dialogue with a god; that’s offensive and harmful. It’s not like I mutilate children’s genitalia without consent; that’s offensive and harmful. My work does not harm others even though it may cause some offense.”
“The Last Supper” opens on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at a location to be announced soon. Free and open to the public, the exhibition will have special viewing times each half hour, limited to 30 guests. No speaking is allowed during the performances. For more information and the viewing time schedule, please visit www.coreyhelfordgallery.com. “The Last Supper” made its premiere appearance at, and is courtesy of Britain’s Black Rat Projects.

Giles Walker
Giles Walker is a scrap artist who has been transforming the industrial waste of contemporary society into fully functional robotic systems for over 20 years. A member of the prolific guerilla-art group THE MUTOID WASTE COMPANY, his kinetic robots affirm the value of creative intervention into throw-away capitalist culture and coherently reflect on the surveillance practices that mark our time, the complexity of current technologically mediated social relations and the ever dissolving boundary that separates man from machine. His work has been exhibited across the world, touring in Europe, Japan, Australia, Russia and Ukraine and was featured at the UK’s first Kinetica Art Fair in 2009. This year his two cyborg pole dancers, a work entitled Peepshow that draws a sinister link between surveillance systems and voyeurism, were included in the V & A exhibition “Decode-Digital Design Sensations”, which showcased a selection of the foremost contemporary artists working in the field of digital and interactive design. For more information about the artist, please visit www.gileswalker.org.

Corey Helford Gallery
Located in the Culver City Art District, Corey Helford Gallery was established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer and creator, Bruce Helford (Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez, The Oblongs). Corey Helford Gallery represents a diverse collection of Contemporary artists influenced by today’s pop culture, encompassing the genres of New Figurative, Pop Surreal, Graffiti and Street Art. Artists include Josh Agle (Shag), Ray Caesar, D*Face, Chloe Early, EINE, Ron English, Natalia Fabia, HUSH, Kukula, Lola, The London Police, Sylvia Ji, Eric Joyner, Michael Mararian, Brandi Milne, Buff Monster, Risk, Amy Sol, TrustoCorp, Martin Wittfooth, and Nick Walker. Renowned for its notable exhibitions, the gallery has presented “Charity By Numbers,” which was co-curated by Gary Baseman and featured an unprecedented lineup of artists including Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Shepard Fairey, Todd and Kathy Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, and Michael Hussar. In 2010, Corey Helford Gallery partnered with Bristol’s City Muse- um & Art Gallery for the transatlantic collaboration “Art From The New World,” a world-class United Kingdom museum exhibition showcasing work by a formidable group of 49 of the finest emerging and noted American artists. Corey Helford Gallery presents new exhibitions approximately every four weeks. For more information and an upcoming exhibition schedule, please visit coreyhelfordgallery.com.

Black Rat Projects
Black Rat Projects was initiated in 2007 and has for the past four years been supporting and developing the careers of artists whose mediums and techniques are in many ways traditional yet whose practices are fused with a contemporary interventionist spirit. The gallery focuses on representing both established and emerging contemporary artists. We also deal in secondary market works by a small number of international artists.
“The Last Supper” Location
3521 Helms Avenue
Culver City, CA 90232
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12-6pm T: 310-287-2340 www.coreyhelfordgallery.com

Notes to editors:
1989: Left Goldsmiths College, University of London, and joined up with the MUTOID WASTE COMPANY. They left for Europe on a 2 year tour that took them to Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Barcelona, and finally Italy where they permanently based themselves.
The MUTOID WASTE COMPANY still has members based in Rimini, Italy, but key figures have returned to London where they work predominantly as individuals but often collaborate on bigger projects ( eg. Their field at Glastonbury is an annual highlight of the festi- val, and are they are currently working on a large, secret, project to be shown in September 2012).

1993: He founded “ANTIBODY” a robotic rock n roll band consisting of fourteen robotic musicians. ANTIBODY toured Europe and Japan extensively and was exhibited in Yoyogi Park, Tokio for four weeks.

1994: Giles started working with music legend Ian Dury on a project, Ruby Throat, combining performance, music and a radio con- trolled, robotic lead vocalist. With a recording contract with Jamdown records they toured Holland, Germany, Spain and Britain. For the next ten years they gigged continually, playing major festivals, such as Glastonbury Music Festival, and were often seen support- ing Ian Dury and the Blockheads at major venues around the UK. They still perform today.

1995: He met fashion designer, Michiko Koshino, and was commissioned to design and make a 12 piece collection of furniture using only material from the scrap yard.

2002: Giles moved to Spain and lived in Valencia. He began to focus once more on kinetic sculpture and incorporating digital control systems to make movement sequential and more fluid.

2004: Exhibited in Tokyo, Kyoto, And Osaka, JAPAN. 2005: Exhibited in Kiev, Odessa, and Yalta, UKRAINE.

2006: He finished building ‘PEEPSHOW’, two exotic, fully animated pole dancers. He first showed these at TRASH CITY, Glastonbury. The piece has been exhibited at events such as THE BIG DAY OUT festival, Australia, DIGITAL MEDIA EXPO, Spain, MUTATE BRIT- AIN, London, BREAD AND BUTTER, Berlin, and VIGO TRANSFORMER, Spain.

2007: He completed “Its a kid’s life”. The work involves three child figures that violently shake when approached. He exhibited them at the MOVE EXPO in Coruna, Spain.

2008: Exhibited at THE KINETIC ART FAIR and MUTATE BRITAIN

2009: He received an Art Council grant and funding from the homeless charity SHP to build a series of animated ‘homeless figures’. Working closely with a homeless group in Stockwell, London, he recorded the life stories and experiences of a number of street dwellers. These stories are programmed into the homeless ‘robots’ and are triggered by presense sensors. The pieces were then positioned on various park benches and tube stations around town...and left to interact with the public.

2010: Collaborated with artist Pete Dunne and built “DOING LIFE”. Exhibited it at the MUTATE BRITAIN show at Ladbroke Grove, London.

2010: He exhibited at THE BLACK RAT PRESS GALLERY, THE V&A, THE TRANSFORMER FESTIVAL, Spain, THE KINETIC ART FAIR and THE MONIKER ART FAIR.

2011: As well as contributing pieces to various group shows at BLACK RAT PRESS, VIGO TRANSFORMER, BERLIN BREAD AND BUTTER, WHITE CROSS STREET ART FESTIVAL etc Giles has spent the year working on a large installation piece based on THE LAST SUPPER which is to be exhibited at BLACK RAT PRESS in March 2012.

2012: Giles exhibited at the RAW Art Fair in Ro?tterdam, Holland.

2012: solo show at BLACK RAT PRESS in MARCH: “THE LAST SUPPER”.
Giles is currently working on a show to be held in Los Angeles, presented by COREY HELFORD GALLERY, in September where he will show “THE LAST SUPPER” alongside 15 new pieces.

For media inquiries as well as interview requests, please contact:
Angelique Groh | Charm School angelique@charmschoolcie.com
T: 323-363-9338

Jo Brooks | Jo Brooks Public Relations job@jb-pr.com
T: + 4407930432508





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