Goldsmiths - University of London

David Mabb and Colin Darke have known each other since 1977, first meeting as students at Goldsmiths College in London.

Over the subsequent thirty years, the two artists have maintained a friendship, along with a shared commitment to socialism, which has allowed for an objective critique of each other’s art.

While their work has physically been very different (Commodity Form probably represents the point where the lines on the graph have come nearest), their approaches to art making have been closely comparable. The clearest correspondence is in their appropriation of existing forms, which they juxtapose/clash/merge in order to explore the historical and social significance of cultural production. The dialectic is central to the practice of both artists.

Despite this, they have never, until now, exhibited together. Both Mabb and Darke are looking forward to the repercussions of this exchange.

The show constitutes two pieces of work, both of which consist of large series of paintings. Mabb is showing Rhythm 69, made up of sixty-nine Hans Richter/Kazimir Malevich images painted onto William Morris wallpaper samples. Darke’s work. The Capital Paintings, is a 480-panel oil-on-canvas series, relating to a previous text-based work Capital.