Guy Oliver presents a new body of work that continues his long-standing interest in exploring issues of male identity, notions of failure and the concept of the tragi-comic. He is showing a new video work and a series of watercolours and ceramics that delve into the sometimes uncomfortable subjects of embarrassing ailments that tend to affect men and their fragile egos. It also touches on the connected world of internet self-help sub-cultures that profess to champion masculinity and boost testosterone, many of which are closely linked to overt misogyny and right-wing politics.
His new video work heavily references the seminal song and music video for O Superman by Laurie Anderson, which in itself subtly satirised the concept of masculine military power whilst asserting a powerful sense of feminine and maternal energy. In this video, through his own use of extended song/spoken word form Oliver is having both a conversation with himself and with the viewer and morphing between different characters and personas that may or may not be aspects of the artist's own character. One of these personas is that of Mr. Soft, based on a character created for a Trebor Soft Mints ad campaign in the 1990s that appears repeatedly within the film as a pathetic beta male figure who is down on his luck. The series of watercolour paintings in the exhibition depict men who in a specific state of despair. There is a repeated gesture of a man with his head in hands that derive from the stock photograph images that are used to illustrate so-called “agony aunt” columns when discussing male sexual problems. The repetitious nature of these photos that use the same gesture of a sad man with his head in his hands are continuously used as a shorthand for illustrating male impotency. It was important for Oliver to recreate these images in a way that emphasises the comedy as well as pathos within them, and in the medium of watercolour which is often associated with fragility and delicacy.
