Janice Kerbel
Remarkable
‘Remarkable is a print-based work that announces the achievements of a range of extraordinary beings imagined in response to the context of the fair. In the tradition of printed broadsides and fairground ephemera Remarkable employs hyperbolic language and un-illustrated texts to conjure these unique individuals. Produced to be distributed daily throughout the fair, the work acts to alert visitors to the potential presence of these anomalous attractions.’
Janice Kerbel, July 2007
Remarkable is a continuation of Janice Kerbel’s fascination with deception in all its forms, the outcomes of which range from plausible but impractical plans for a bank heist to a cheat’s pack of playing cards and a town designed specifically for ghosts.
The artist’s understanding of the visual codes that surround these activities allow her work to exist in its own reality, between thought and action, where suggestion and expectation flourish. Kerbel’s print project took 19th-century fairground posters as its inspiration, heralding the arrival of a series of remarkable characters. Building on her interest in predicting events, each print evoked a figure created in response to a specific detail relating to the fair.
Janice Kerbel (b.1969) is a Canadian artist based in London. Recent solo exhibitions include: ‘1st at Moderna’, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, and ‘Deadstar’, Locus +, Newcastle (both 2006). Recent group exhibitions include: the Montreal Biennial, Canada (2007); ‘Around the World in 80 Days’, South London Gallery (2006); and the British Art Show 6, BALTIC, Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle and touring (2005).
