Douglas Gordon, Jonathan Monk

Douglas Gordon and Jonathan Monk. Double Act Repeated

Lisson Gallery is proud to present an exhibition by Douglas Gordon and Jonathan Monk. Double Act Repeated features works the artists made together and comprises four films, an opening-night performance and a series of new works created especially for the exhibition. Gordon and Monk share an interest in exploring the creative act as intuitive and conceptual process, as well as a passion for found images, football, word-play and the belief that the best ideas are generated around the dining table.

The Sublimation of Desire, 2008 are four films which record the change of state of a bottle of beer, a glass of champagne, a mug of tea and a cup of coffee from cold to warm and from hot to cold. The films are the re-make of a hour long video the artist shot in the mid 90s on a very hot afternoon in Budapest of a cold beer getting warm. Again, at the end of the 90s, on a ice-cold morning in Shwaz, Austria, they documented a hot mug of tea getting cold. The video tapes were lost and the artists decided to re-create these moments on 16mm film on a loop, registering obsessively changes in state: relentless images of the sublimation of desire, cold beer becomes warm, champagne bubbles become flat, steaming coffee and hot tea become undrinkable.

The exhibition also presents new works which reference the logo for the Two Ronnies, a British sketch show the artists share fond childhood memories of, which featured Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. The work is a celebration of the double act – incidentally both artists also wear glasses. On the opening night Friends Electric Bar, will see Gordon and Monk host a temporary bar in the gallery, sharing their favourite drinks and music with visitors to the show.

The films formed the basis of an exhibition at the Fondazione Morra Greco in Naples in 2009 and are presented for the first time in London.

Douglas Gordon, Jonathan Monk
Double Act Repeated