The 2012 edition of annual exhibition Young Gods will take place simultaneously across two locations in west and east London. Selected and curated by Zavier Ellis, director of Shoreditch gallery CHARLIE SMITH london and co-founder of THE FUTURE CAN WAIT, the exhibition will be a multi-disciplinary presentation of London’s most exciting graduates from the summer of 2012. Young Gods is presented in conjunction with the Griffin Gallery, supported by fine art brands Winsor & Newton, Conté à Paris and Liquitex.

Focusing on the theme of artists’ materials at the Griffin Gallery, this exhibition will include four painters in Steven Allan, Andrew Leventis, Sikelela Owen and Sheila Wallis. Sculptor George Rae will recreate his life-size clay tree Quercus Robur, and Eyal Edelman will produce a real time interactive performance / sound / projection piece that encourages the audience to interact critically and directly with the other work on show.

Forming a bridge between the two sites, Edelman’s Everyone’s a Critic will be documented, edited and presented as a stand-alone video at CHARLIE SMITH london, alongside Peter Georgallou, who will make a floor to ceiling cycle driven loom that manufactures tweed; Salome Ghazanfari, who draws on street cults to make performance / video / installation; Adele Morse, who will present video and installation based on her search for the Orang Pendek species; and Jessica Rayner, whose multi-disciplinary work centres on expeditions to investigate the relationship between science, ecology and the human condition. Also showing at both sites will be Christopher Kulendran Thomas, whose complex political work draws partially on two main themes that run between the two shows: the nature of art in itself, and globalization.

The exhibition promises to be a relevant focus on London’s most exciting future talent. Previous selections have included David Blandy, Leah Capaldi, Oliver Clegg, Ines de Coo, Annie Kevans, Alexis Milne, Nika Neelova, Ryan Riddington and Douglas White.

Please contact CHARLIE SMITH london for images and further information (for thumbnails of artists' work please scroll down).

IN ASSOCIATION WITH:

Editor’s Notes:

Zavier Ellis is the Director of CHARLIE SMITH london. He is also co-founder and co-curator of the museum scale show for emerging artists THE FUTURE CAN WAIT, which is currently organised in partnership with Saatchi’s New Sensations. Zavier has curated exhibitions internationally including in Berlin, Helsinki, Klaipeda, London, Los Angeles, Naples and Rome; and has placed work in notable private collections globally including The Saatchi Gallery, Javier Baz, Peter Nobel, Jean Pigozzi, David Roberts and Thomas Rusche. Known as an acute talent spotter Zavier has identified and exhibited a number of important young artists directly from Art College including David Blandy, Oliver Clegg, Tessa Farmer, Sam Jackson, Monica Ursina Jäger, Annie Kevans, Nika Neelova and Douglas White. Zavier also collects and is a practicing artist and has recently exhibited at Paul Stolper Gallery in London and Museum der Moderne in Salzburg.

The Griffin Gallery – The Studio Programme provides a great opportunity for championing and supporting the work of emerging artists. The Griffin Gallery, at the heart of this programme, is an open, contemporary space providing local, national and international artists with an exciting platform to showcase their work. Supported by fine art materials brands; Winsor & Newton, Liquitex and Conté à Paris, the Studio Programme includes International and domestic residencies in two fully equipped studios (selected through the Griffin Art Prize), on hand access to expertise in fine art materials and techniques and opportunities to attend workshops and seminars put on by artists and technical experts.The Studio Programme is part of our desire to sustain and support the creation and exhibition of art. For further information, please contact info@griffingallery.co.uk.