Xerox Flash!
07-22 September 2019
Celebrating 60 years of paper jams, toner spills and emphatically slamming the drawers, Conclave presents a selected group show of limited-edition and unique, one-off “Xerox Art” works in this intriguing and super-affordable medium.
All works will be available to purchase for £20.
On September 16th, 1959, Xerox Corporation launched the Xerox 914, demo-ing it in a live TV broadcast. The 914 was the first-ever automatic photocopier and it revolutionised the copying industry, eventually finding its way into hundreds of thousands of offices across the world.
Now, as we approach its 60th birthday, the photocopier is often seen as a vintage throwback device in the modern office – used only by the company dinosaurs (and their long-suffering PAs…) and as the thing to be going wrong when the printer hasn’t already done so that week….
BUT, it has a very distinct aesthetic quality; a quality which is inherently lo-fi and lo-tech, and – in this digital age – lets the user connect to an unusually mechanical and analogue experience, involving static electricity, direct light sensitivity, dusty inks, hot, curly paper, and that unique and comforting smell!
Artists have always been at the forefront of using, misusing, manipulating and appropriating new technologies, and the birth of the photocopier was no different. Although early adopters experimented with the medium of Xerox Art (or “electrostatic art”, “xerography” or “copy art”) in the 1960s, it gained momentum after the launch of the Xerox 914, seeing popularity rise in the 1970s, and by the 1980s had established itself as a leading medium for accessible, contemporary art.
Fashions may come and go, but the beauty, immediacy and accessibility of Xerox Art still feels very relevant (if not more so) today.
Watch the wonderfully vintage 1959 launch presentation advert here.
** FREE ENTRY **
Opening Hours:
Tues/Weds: 12-6pm
Thurs/Fri/Sat: 10am-6pm
Sun: 11am-5pm
Mondays: closed (Bank holidays 12-6)
ABOUT THE VENUE:
This exhibition will take place in the Conclave Events Space, located in the basement of CONCLAVE GALLERY, 9 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3WA.
NB. The space is accessed via the main, ground-floor gallery, and then down a flight of 14 stairs; there is no lift available, sorry!
