Zoobs Ansari’s first major London retrospective, the Insanity Fair, will take place at Elephant West in White City from March 13 to April 9, 2020. The exhibition deals with the current issue of contemporary society’s preoccupation with physical perfection, popular culture and celebrity.
Zoobs Ansari – Social Anxiety Number 12, 2018
Zoobs Ansari works in a variety of media, from video and photography to collage and painting. The result is impressive portraits of celebrities and figures from the fashion and music world, including John Lennon, Amy Whitehouse and David Bowie. Influenced by his early career in commercial photography and styling with image maker Serge Lutens in Shiseido, his portraits aim to illuminate the man-made alluring appeal of beauty, fame and fortune while realizing the troubling psychological, emotional and physical ramifications of the world blind pursuit of these goals.
Zoobs has a reputation among top collectors and has exhibited and sold at exhibitions in prestigious institutions and spaces such as the Saatchi Gallery, Guy Hepner Gallery and the worldwide opera galleries. His work has also been shown in high-end boutiques and hotels such as the Dolce & Gabbana flagship store on Bond Street and the Mandrake Hotel in Fitzrovia.
Zoobs Ansari – The Muse, video portrait by Melanie Griffiths, 2015
Zoobs Ansari was born in London with Pakistani heritage and has lived in Los Angeles since 2014. He currently works between LA and NYC.
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multimedia
The Insanity Fair brings together more than 30 multimedia works that have been created in the last six years and range from video and photography to collage and painting. Commenting on The Muse, his 2015 video portrait of Hollywood actress Melanie Griffith, Zoobs says, “It was about capturing every moment of my interaction on film. It’s a one-on-one situation; I do everything from styling to makeup, although I find that people are comfortable with me, figuring out if people are open to me is still a challenge. “
Zoobs Ansari – Cher No. 1, 2019
Elephant West is a converted gas station providing visual and intellectual fuel for the culturally curious. Elephant commissions an ambitious program of career-defining installations and projects from emerging artists, filmmakers, designers and musicians that supports the careers of exciting young creatives and hosts a stimulating program of events such as live music and dance performances, workshops and films, screenings, stand-up -Comedy, retro gaming evenings, inspirational talks and yoga classes.
The Insanity Fair exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated publication, including an interview with Zoobs Ansari by Dr. Jean Wainwright. A series of film screenings, lectures and performances with the artist will be announced in 2020.
See also: Peter Harrington’s catalog for contemporary prints with Dali, Banksy and Picasso
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