Campbell Patterson
Campbell Patterson | United Kingdom b.1983 | Glue balls 2004 | Digital Betacam (transferred from Digital Video), 56:14 minutes, colour, sound ed. 3/3 | Purchased 2008. The Queensland Government's Gallery of Modern Art Acquisitions Fund | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
b.1983 Portsmith, United Kingdom
Lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand
Preferring to work alone and with real situations, Campbell Patterson creates video performances that combine wry humour with an element of suppressed eroticism that is both alluring and disarming. Much of his work is characterised by an interest in documenting the mental and physical limitations of the body, manifesting in playful, sometimes painful, and often mischievous results. Patterson experiments with tempo in his works; unencumbered by strict narrative, his videos are often diaristic and accrete over time. He makes both direct and indirect reference to the history of performance art, including artists such as Dennis Oppenheim, Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman and Vito Acconci, many of whom use the body (often in extremis) as the subject of their work. Patterson’s energy, verve, immediacy and impact mark a fresh new direction in performance-based video art of the region. For APT6, Patterson will be represented by a series of video works produced over the past five years, showing the scope of this exciting young artist’s practice. They range from his meticulous documenting of gulping soda water, to his endurance performance of holding his mother in his arms for as long as possible.
Exhibitions (solo): Michael Lett, Auckland, New Zealand, 2008; City Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand, 2007. Exhibitions (group): ‘Various Artists’, New Zealand Film Archive, Auckland, New Zealand, 2008.
Video
View Campbell Patterson’s artist talk from the APT6 Opening weekend (part 1 of 2) (part 2 of 2)
