Chris Alton
Under the Shade I Flourish

Exhibition open:

12.3.16 – 3.4.16
Sat. – Sun. 12:00 – 18:00

Private view:

Friday March 11th, 19:00 – 21:00

Under the shade I flourish,
Under the rocks and stones.
Out of the rain and the wind,
Desert island all alone.
And if you want to see me,
You know where I'll be found.
Under the shade I fourish,
Out of the sun I'm bound.

The non-uk domiciled billionaire Michael Ashcroft is a controversial figure, notable for “opaque tax practices” and “operating in the dark". Whilst serving as a member of the House of Lords, he remained a non-dom despite promises that he would become domiciled in the UK for tax purposes. In the mid-1960s Ashcroft briefly managed “an unknown rhythm and blues band” called Trident. Under the Shade I Flourish (2015-2016) imagines that he continued to do so. However, this is not a direct speculation upon another possible timeline. Incorporating feedback from the life Ashcroft did lead, Alton engages in a cartographic process that involves the cross-pollination of both fact and fiction. Working through simultaneous satire and celebration, Alton invokes seemingly incongruous juxtapositions, as a means of visualising the power structures in which we are all embedded – narrativising something that is too complex to be immediately comprehendible. The extrapolated band becomes a vehicle to explore the the very real exploitation of post-colonial countries as tax havens. Alton's recent exhibitions include; Outdancing Formations, Edith-Russ-Haus (2015), MEIL, Chisenhale Studios (2015) and each other, Wysing Arts Centre (Open Weekend) (2015). He was recently awarded; the Edith-Russ-Haus Award for Emerging Media Artists of the Sparda Bank 2015 and the Lewisham Arthouse Graduate Studio Award 2015.

For more information go to: www.chrisalton.com

Trident tapes are available from: http://www.rice-toye.com/Publications