Thursday 25 February 2010

Men Suits by Charles LeDrey


LeDray piled on hundred of suits, shirts, ties, clothing racks and hangers in a setting suggestive of a neglected second hand shop. They had been used, run-down and so sad. These were once worthless and disowned objects, but they are now back with a vengeance, meticulously reproduced in a miniature scale.

It is the size that makes them so eerily delightful and affectionate which the artist recreates and rearranges them with an obsession. In one corner, heaps of shirts and laundry bags have been slouched across jumbled up clothing racks and hangers. On the other section, colourful retro-suits and shirts have been arranged in a manner that suggests fixation. The sculptural mode retains a repetitive feature which include spirals, rows, stacks, stripes and overlaps. Visually, they appear to control the objects, forcing them into this ludicrous space.

The objects share intimacy within a confined space. The body on the other hand is missing. It is the mannequin who wears the suit, who stands alone alongside a small table displaying an assortment of ties. The trait of absence suggests something about loneliness. But LeDray comes from a more impersonal approach. As Lingwood has written, his world is carefully constructed, seeking to mediate on appearance, identity and the inevitable social and economic cycle of use, exchange and value.

Men Suits was curated by Art Angel, 11 July-20 September 2009, The Fire Station Chiltern St, London