Spiller + Cameron: Titans & Muses
Reincarnation is a key theme in the work of mother/son artistic duo, Spiller + Cameron, who have been working together for the past five years, creating an instantly recognizable oeuvre of stark, almost-brutalist, but also greatly expressive works that adhere to their own strict set of codes.
Firstly, the concept of reincarnation arises metaphorically, in that each of their paintings is created as a different, sentinel-type watchman. Each is titled after a Greek god, Biblical or historic figure, or even personified spiritualist ideology: Abbadon is the ‘place of destruction’ in the Old Testament; Gabriel the archangel who descends to earth with various warnings; Poseidon the Greek god of the sea. Their debut exhibition with Beers London, aptly titled Titans & Muses, scours the mythological and spiritualist annals to resurrect these figures as paintings.
But to call these arduously worked pieces ‘paintings’ grossly misses the mark – and their intent. Xavier Spiller-Cameron and Moira Cameron have created a sort of codex for themselves, in which their works are elaborate assemblages that adhere to a strict set of rules. These works are comprised of as many as thirty separate, distinct panels, each judiciously chosen from any number of contingent works which are de– and re-constructed herein as the compositional ‘building blocks’ for the finished piece. In that regard, these so-called lesser works are given a new life, a sort of life beyond their original intent.
Reincarnation is a key theme in the work of mother/son artistic duo, Spiller + Cameron, who have been working together for the past five years, creating an instantly recognizable oeuvre of stark, almost-brutalist, but also greatly expressive works that adhere to their own strict set of codes.
Firstly, the concept of reincarnation arises metaphorically, in that each of their paintings is created as a different, sentinel-type watchman. Each is titled after a Greek god, Biblical or historic figure, or even personified spiritualist ideology: Abbadon is the ‘place of destruction’ in the Old Testament; Gabriel the archangel who descends to earth with various warnings; Poseidon the Greek god of the sea. Their debut exhibition with Beers London, aptly titled Titans & Muses, scours the mythological and spiritualist annals to resurrect these figures as paintings.
But to call these arduously worked pieces ‘paintings’ grossly misses the mark – and their intent. Xavier Spiller-Cameron and Moira Cameron have created a sort of codex for themselves, in which their works are elaborate assemblages that adhere to a strict set of rules. These works are comprised of as many as thirty separate, distinct panels, each judiciously chosen from any number of contingent works which are de– and re-constructed herein as the compositional ‘building blocks’ for the finished piece. In that regard, these so-called lesser works are given a new life, a sort of life beyond their original intent.