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Opening and book launch: Thursday 30th of October, 18:30-2100,
with readings by Perri MacKenzie, Sophie Kelly-Keegan, Robbie McLean and Emma Mortimer,
and a performance by members of the Rhubaba Choir.
Exhibition opening hours: 12:00-17:00, Friday 31 Oct, Saturday 1 Nov, Sunday 2 Nov
.
The Speaking Room is an exhibition of paintings by Perri MacKenzie, a Scottish artist based in Brussels. The exhibition is a celebration and UK launch of the artist’s publication ‘What does an oracle look like?’ released by Leaky Press earlier this year.
~~~The word 'oracle' is shrouded in mystery: it can refer to both the person who divines, the site of divination, and the message received. And there's no single divination process: glistening animal entrails, rustling oak leaves, amphora-spilled wine – these are all examples of oracular material, to be interpreted in the right way.
'What does an oracle look like?' is a misdirected question; confusing vision with sound, description with interpretation. With its focus on appearance, it becomes a painter's question. It's not important what oracles look like, after all – it's what they say.
~~~
Paintings within the exhibition portray the animals featured on the Anspach Fountain, located in the Sainte-Catherine quarter of Brussels. For MacKenzie, water streaming from the fountain acts as an embodiment voice, the animals gushing and gurgling to one another across the stone basin.
‘What does an oracle look like?’ investigates this seeping between the ways in which we speak, write and visualise language. We flow between inky sketches, wet t-shirts, Sapphic ribbons and the texture of Claire Danes’ voice.
The book is designed by Ilke Gers, printed by robstolk Amsterdam and published by Leaky Press.