These Here United States 'Fright', 2006, Oil and oil pastel on canvas

Lee Maelzer, 'Fright', 2006, Oil and oil pastel on canvas

These Here United States 'Preacher Man', 2006, Oil on canvas

, 'Preacher Man', 2006, Oil on canvas

These Here United States Untitled 7, 2009, Edition of 3 + 1 AP, Poster

David Wojtowycz, Untitled 7, 2009, Edition of 3 + 1 AP, Poster

These Here United States 'The Piece', 2006, Collage on paper

Zoe Anderson, 'The Piece', 2006, Collage on paper

These Here United States 'Country Air', 2009, Mixed media (MDF, Perspex, acetate, motor, fluorescent lights), 76 x 76 x 76 cm, Courtesy of artists and MASTER PIPER, London

Pennicott+Fleming, 'Country Air', 2009, Mixed media (MDF, Perspex, acetate, motor, fluorescent lights), 76 x 76 x 76 cm, Courtesy of artists and MASTER PIPER, London

These Here United States

9 Jul—20 Aug 2009

Curated by Medeia Cohan-Petrolino

Wed—Fri 12—6pm
Sat—Sun by Appointment

artists

David Wojtowycz, Greg Rook, Helen Ingham, Lee Maelzer, Pennicott+Fleming, Pippa Gatty, Poppy de Villeneuve, Zoe Anderson

Master Piper is pleased to present 'These Here United States', a group show which explores a perception of the American wild west as depicted by eight British emerging artists of multiple disciplines.

Often glorified and romanticized outside of its own boarders, internally the southern United States are more regularly affiliated with negative connotations by the rest of the country. While nostalgic imagery of rolling prairies and handsome Marlboro men are depicted in popular western films, the more true to life stereotype of the modern cowboy from an American standpoint might well be summed up by the last American president.

For Europe, and the UK especially, there was no wild Frontier, no prairie, no John Wayne. Europe's Frontier was the Industrial Revolution which brought bricks, steam, smoke and machinery. For a country spoon fed western imports such as Bonanza, Ponderosa and Little House on the Prairie, without a realistic serving of Roots, the Land Rush can appear a tremendously appealing period. The savagery of wilderness and the bravery in inhabiting forges a unique rugged identity which is hailed as "American" - individuals, citizens of the Frontier, with the power to tame the wild and flourish as a new nation. For many Europeans the myth of the American Frontier inspires want and admiration.

'These Here United States' brings together seven artists who share this sense of wonder, fascination and appreciation of the American South, from print artist Helen Ingham who perfected the 500 year old art of letter carving and pressing at the world famous Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tennesee to Painter Greg Rook, who finds a common ground between the heroic iconography of the early settlers forging their own identities, and the myth of the artist searching for answers in their work. Photographer Poppy de Villeneuve's emotive and complex portraits and breath taking landscapes portray a delicate ‘beauty and the beast juxtaposition’ of both inmates and vistas from America's most infamous and largest maximum security prison, the Louisiana State Penitentiary.

'These Here United States' follows Master Piper's inaugural exhibition 'The Royal Republic'. These exhibitions attempt to explore social paradoxes innate to the US and the UK as well as the nuances between a State's image and its actual demography.

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