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John COURT, Finland/UK

Born in 1969 in Bromley, Kent, lives and works in Lapland Finland.

John Court’s ability to create new, simple yet mind-blowing work makes him one of todays most intriguing artists in contemporary live action. Generally using a time format of 8 hours during which he repeats an action, Court not only transposes the legal working day into the realm of contemporary art. He further develops a multi-layered critique on human mechanical reproduction or repetition. It is a work which not only relates to his working class background, but also to his difficulties as a dyslexic child in an educational system where mechanical repetition was the only given tool of learning how to read and write.

Court’s ingenousity and capacity to constantly invent new works through very simple means speaks to us about critical contemporary issues like the function and meaning of our own behaviour in the actions, repetititions and reproductions that we do. 

John Court graduated from Camberwell School of Art, London in 1994 and from Norwich School of Art and Design in 1997 with a degree in Sculpture. He moved to Finland in 1997, and lives and works in Lapland, close to the Arctic Circle. His work has been exhibited in the UK, Scandinavia and Berlin, and his performances have captivated audiences worldwide at events such as Live Action in Gothenburg, (2014), DigitaLive in Canton (2014), Guangzhou Live 4 (2013), Infr’Action Venezia in Venice Italy (2013) SpaceX Gallery Exeter in UK (2012) Guangzhou Live 1 in China, ANTI Contemporary Art Festival in Finland (both 2010), the Venice Biennale (2005) and the Liverpool Biennial (2004). 
Court-vertial
John Court. Guangzhou Live 4. 2014. © Ou Zhihang & Guangzhou Live.




ARTISTS


Wathiq AL-AMERI, Iraq/Switzerland


Ali AL-FATLAWI, Iraq/Switzerland


Gustaf BROMS, Sweden


Loïc CONNANSKI, France


John COURT, Finland/UK


Axel Di CHIAPPARI, France


Bill DRUMMOND, United Kingdom


Stein HENNINGSEN, Norway


Nigel ROLFE, Ireland


Joakim STAMPE, Sweden


Valentin TORRENS, Spain


PROGRAM