Void - Khalid Andrew McMahon b. 1993
VOID is the product of a building sense of reality and perception warping under pressure of an incomprehensible global shift. Central to this shift are societies worldwide, entrapped within disparate streams of information, ideas, newzak and infotainment, devoid of any centralised framework for fruitful consumption.
Reaping from the background noise of said shift, McMahon draws on the mediatization of the everyday, pulling the viewer into an eerily atmospheric world of hyper-reality. Making use of film, sound and objects McMahon’s installation portrays the encroaching role of the screen, the stage and fiction, or “non-reality” as he calls it, upon daily experience. His pseudo-cinematic practice is pervaded by dramatic emptiness that borders the suspense of a thriller and the alluring unease of ambient city lights.
Void opens on Friday May 12th from 7pm to 10pm. The show will continue running through May with public viewings open on the Saturday 13th, Friday 19th, Saturday 20th, Friday 26th, and Saturday 27th. Shows will run from 7pm to 10pm each night.
This performance uses intense flashing lights and strobes and is not suitable for people with epilepsy or other types of photo sensitivity.
Biography
Khalid Andrew McMahon is a British Yemeni artist, born in Abu Dhabi, in 1993 and raised in Norfolk, England. He currently lives and works in Barcelona and is a resident artist at BienCuadrado. His practice has persisted a childhood fascination of horror and the supernatural. His influences stem from the seductive but unsettling visuals of Chris Cunningham to the alienation of Edward Hopper’s paintings. Previously McMahon has studied at The Art Academy in London at which he exhibited several video and installation works.