Douglas Gordon's Phantom

The infant realm of 1980s video artistry was, during his formative years of study in Glasgow, one of the last things to gauge the interest of a fledgling Douglas Gordon. Fast-forward to 2011 - Douglas stands as one of the most highly regarded British video-artists of his time and the first video-artist to win the infamous Turner prize. Using film and video as a palate to experiment with versions of identity and the mechanics of memory, his work abstracts filmic images to provide an alternative experience of human observation.

In the artist’s sixth exhibition at the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris, Phantom features three autobiographical installations. A half destroyed neon work titled Unfinished, featuring the words “I am the centre of the world”, and a series of four hundred framed works - an open diary of Douglas’ personal belongings – delves into the dark depths of the artists vulnerability through the objectification in their exposure.  Phantom – the main body of this collective, is a collaborative work with singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Surrounded by mirrors and a grand piano, a video of Wainwright’s eye plays in darkness, inviting observers to question the fragmented and torturous nature of self. 

Phantom, Yvon Lambert, 108 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 75003, Paris, April 15 – June 3, 2011