The Approach Gallery is presenting “Spell,” a solo exhibition by the acclaimed artist John Stezaker, marking the 20th anniversary of their collaborative partnership. This milestone exhibition features two new bodies of work, the “Spell” and “Life Room” series, alongside Stezaker’s enduring “Mask” series, which began in 1982 and continues to captivate audiences.
Emerging from the isolation of the lockdown period, Stezaker’s “Spell” series draws inspiration from the mythical realm of Classical mythology and fairy tales, particularly the hybrid forms of animal and human figures and their enchanting transformations. Using silhouettes cut from 1950s publicity portraits of film stars, Stezaker overlays these shapes onto natural history illustrations of invertebrates. These juxtapositions serve as metaphors for the fluidity of human identity, exploring themes of interspecies hybrids and gender fluidity.
The late writer Roberto Calasso (1941-2021) described mythological figures—like nymphs and sirens—as mediators between the real and the unreal, the sacred and the profane. In their transformative states, they infuse everyday life with a sense of the unknown and magical. For Stezaker, the cinematic world of the 1950s cast a similar spell, oscillating between deception and enchantment.
The “Life Room” series presents a different approach, superimposing male and female silhouettes from an artist’s anatomy book. These figures pose similarly with identical props, creating a doubling effect that blurs the lines between masculine and feminine forms. These androgynous figures inhabit a stark landscape of Platonic shapes—plinths reminiscent of sculptures—that, in their association with gender transformations, acquire a mystical significance.
Stezaker’s “Mask” series remains a cornerstone of his oeuvre. In this ongoing project, the faces of 1950s publicity portraits are obscured by vintage postcards. This collision of incongruent images produces a haunting presence: part face and part mask. The contours of a jawline might morph into the edge of a cliff, while a cascading waterfall becomes a movie star’s flowing hairstyle. This interplay taps into the human tendency to perceive faces and figures in otherwise abstract forms, blending optical and imaginary visions. By disrupting the dominance of conventional optical perception, Stezaker re-engages viewers in the act of seeing, inviting them to find new meanings in familiar images.
Stezaker’s work is characterised by its ability to evoke a poetic strangeness from the ordinary. By extracting images from mass circulation, he imbues them with new life and significance, challenging viewers to see beyond the surface. The “Spell” exhibition at The Approach celebrates two decades of fruitful collaboration and underscores Stezaker’s unique contribution to contemporary art, where the past and present, the real and the imaginary, continually intersect and transform.
John Stezaker (b. 1949, Worcester) lives and works in London and St. Leonards-on-Sea. Recent solo exhibitions include: John Stezaker, Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy (2021); At the Edge of Pictures: John Stezaker, Works 1975–1990, Luxembourg & Co, London, UK (2020); John Stezaker, National Portrait Gallery, London (2019); Lost World, City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand (touring show) (2017-2018); John Stezaker, Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, UK; Aftermath, York Art Gallery, UK (2017); Film Works, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, UK; Collages, Fotomuseum Nederlands, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2015); John Stezaker, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Switzerland; John Stezaker: Working from the Collection, Les Rencontres Arles Photographie, Arles, France; John Stezaker: One on One, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel (2013); Marriage, Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, USA; John Stezaker, The Whitechapel Gallery, London, touring to MUDAM, Luxembourg and Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, USA (2011-2012); Lost Images, Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany (2010).
Stezaker was awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2012. His work has been the focus of several publications, including John Stezaker: At the Edge of Pictures, Yuval Etgar, Koenig Books, London (2020); John Stezaker: Love, London: Ridinghouse, published on the occasion of Love at The Approach, London (2019); John Stezaker: Lost World, London: Ridinghouse, published on the occasion of Lost World, touring exhibition in various Australia and New Zealand locations (2018) and John Stezaker, London: Ridinghouse, in association with Whitechapel Gallery, Mudam Luxembourg, and Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum (2010).
Stezaker’s work is in collections worldwide, including Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Arts Council England, UK; Birmingham Museums Trust, UK; British Council Collection, UK; Ellipse Foundation Contemporary Art Collection, Cascais, Portugal; FRAC Ilede-France/ Le Plateau, Paris, France; Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA; MoMA, New York, USA; MUDAM Collection, Luxembourg; RISD Museum of Art, Providence, USA; The Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA; Sammlung Verbund, Vienna, Austria; Seattle Art Museum, Washington, USA; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Tate Collection, London, UK; The University of Warwick Art Collection, Coventry, UK; The York Museum Trust, York, UK; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, UK.
John Stezaker Spell The Approach 06.09—28.09.24