Reading International is pleased to announce ‘Eggy and Seedy’ by Matt Copson and Alastair MacKinven, a multifaceted project comprising an exhibition by over thirty international artists in a local café, a show in a refurbished office block, a serialised radio play, a group performance in a shopping mall, two concerts including Ben Wallers (formerly of the band The Country Teasers) and the musician felicita, as well as the publication of a 7” vinyl record featuring Mike Skinner (formerly of The Streets).
Alongside works by Copson and MacKinven, the initial exhibition ‘Breakfast All Day’ will include drawings and painted works on paper by Tomma Abts, Amelia Barratt, Julie Beaufils, Brian Belott, Nora Berman, Sarah Buckner, Merlin Carpenter, Enrico David, Peter Davies, Peter Doig, Ida Ekblad, Jana Euler, Elizabeth Jaeger, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Behrang Karimi, Allison Katz, KAYA (Kerstin Brätsch and Debo Eilers), John Kelsey, Satoshi Kojima, Stanislava Kovalcikova, Lucy Mckenzie, Annie Pearlman, Allan Rand, Devlin Shea, Simon Thompson and Willem Oorebeek, Ben Wallers, and Issy Wood at Munchees, a café in Reading town centre, until 13 May 2017.
MacKinven’s play will also air on the Reading radio station Blast 1386 for the duration of the project to reveal a narrative involving a romantic relationship between two historical Land Artists. This new work originates from two previous performances that connect processes of entropy, regeneration and remaking – All of the things that you could be by now if Robert Smithson’s wife was your mother (2006/7) and When the Schtick Hits the Fan (2009) – which form an ongoing plot in the artist’s work. Interestingly, MacKinven was asked to present a birthing ceremony by a midwifery hospital in Manchester after the clinic misunderstood his previous actions as practical presentations instead of symbolic rebirths, a misinterpretation that led to MacKinven’s plan for his radio play in Reading.
To continue this dialogue around storytelling, misrecognition, reconstruction, welfare and regional UK culture, Saturday 4 March will see a series of actors perform for an eight-hour period in response to the commercial heart of Reading, while the launch of the second exhibition will take place within Thames Tower, a recently refurbished 1970s Modernist office block situated next to Reading railway station.
Other events include a public lecture on the concept of ‘Milk Art’ at South Street theatre on Saturday 29 April, an official finissage party on Saturday 13 May at The Face Bar (this will include the launch of the 7” vinyl record, as well as performances by musical outfits The Stallion, felicita and very special guests), alongside a final book signing on 15 July for a new issue of the magazine Da Thirst, which will contain documentation of Copson and MacKinven’s entire project.
Importantly, a dialogue with painting will bookend Reading International’s initial run between early 2017 and late 2019. A major exhibition is planned for mid-2019 that aims to present a synthesis between contemporary international ‘networked’ and ‘outsider’ practices, and with this in mind, Copson and MacKinven’s opening event at Munchees forms an eccentric platform for international artists who are currently extending the boundaries of the painted medium, and simultaneously aims to activate unlikely regional venues through a curatorial approach redolent of historical predecessors such as the late US museum curator Walter Hopps, who was known for his unconventional and ground-breaking approaches to exhibition-making.
For further information and images, please contact Kirsten Cooke, Reading International Assistant Curator on kirsten@readinginternational.org / +44 (0)118 378 8050
Opening event: 6.00pm and 9.00pm, Saturday 18 February 2017, Munchees, 2-3 Butter Market, Reading RG1 2DP, UK. All welcome.