INFINITE by Carali McCall Body | Alchemy | Landscape | Cosmos: Restraint Running Performance Scheduled Saturday 28th September 2024 | 11am | 1pm | 3pm |

CLOSE Gallery are delighted to present INFINITE: body, alchemy, landscape and the cosmos, a solo exhibition of new work by performance artist and scholar Carali McCall. This is McCall’s first exhibition with CLOSE since the announcement of her representation earlier this year.

Infinite describes something that is limitless and without bounds, endless or unmeasurable and in this exhibition McCall looks at the concept through four lenses; the body, alchemy, landscape and the cosmos. Through a multitude of materials, performances and collaborations, McCall introduces us to a series of artworks, showing the artist enduring processes and making works that consider material and spiritual connections. 

For McCall the search for the known and unknown provides a driving force – the search for oneself in landscape bestows a yearning and longing. Key historical artworks, including Richard Long’s, A Line Made by Walking (1967), Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970) and Roni Horn’s work with self-portraits in Iceland, Pi (1998), have sat as pillars for her practice. Using her body as a tool for drawing, carving and sculpting through the landscape and her everyday environment,  McCall’s work builds on the tradition of artists whose physical movements document a way of being in the world; offering ways to connect with the landscape and atmosphere directly.

McCall is best known for her time based ‘Circle Drawings’ where the artist uses a circle, itself an infinite shape, and drawing to push her body's boundaries. The idea of limits and transcending them are central to her practice. For INFINITE, McCall takes a broader perspective, asking us to consider our relationship with the cosmos. Drawing on the writings of Ethan Siegal, Umberto Eco and Jessica Hundley, she investigates the idea of an infinite universe, infinite particles and humankind’s need to bring order to a concept that by its very nature is hard to comprehend.

Please join us for this exciting exhibition. The show will coincide with the festival of Somerset Art Weeks (21st September to 7th October 2024) and McCall will be based at the gallery during the festival weekends to give viewers the opportunity to see some of her live performances.

Visits throughout the exhibition are welcome by appointment, book online at www.closeltd.com

Notes to Editors

Carali McCall – b. Canada, 1981; living and working in London UK. 

Carali McCall is an artist whose practice is focused on performance and drawing, yet spans sculpture, video/photography, sound and writing. In exploring the role of the body, McCall is interested in physicality and the thresholds of materials. Artworks have been made by either carving through the landscape while running, drawing a continuous line with graphite on paper, or holding a bit of the landscape (a rock) as an act of endurance as a performance. Through movement and stillness, the work aims to address what it might mean to be human and expand conceptual-based art practices. Awarded MFA at Slade School of Art UCL, PhD at Central Saint Martin’s UAL; 

McCall is co-author of the Bloomsbury publication, Performance Drawing: New Practices since 1945 (2020); recent projects include movement director for Editorials and written academic article on Live Art for Routledge; recent ‘Circle Drawing’ and ‘Performing Rock’ performances have been included at Blunk Space in California; Guggenheim in Bilbao, CLOSE Ltd Gallery in Somerset. Recent group exhibitions include Lines of Empathy at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art in London, i miss the Land but does the Land miss me? Art Seen in Cyprus; and a solo exhibition at Gryder Gallery in New Orleans, Intervals of Jupiter.. 

CLOSE Ltd develop visual art projects and represents a dedicated line-up of artists.. They give a wide and supportive platform with projects to enrich both the artists’ and audiences’ lives. A leading rural venue for the Visual Arts, CLOSE Ltd is also an agency that creates outstanding aerial international shows. Running a unique, sustainable model responding and adapting to the climate crisis, the gallery team considers the environment as well as inclusivity of all communities in every aspect of their activities. 

www.closeltd.com  |   info@closeltd.com   |   01823 480350   |   Close House, Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset TA3 6AE        

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Please see the film about Carali's performance 'Running Restraint'