JOSÉ DAVILA

Tropical Critique

21.11.03 - 20.12.03

Jose Davila presents three works that play with preconceived notions of the landscape; whether a fantasy destination, an academic construction or a political ideal. Davila uses found imagery to create components of a conceptual memory game. A creased commercial billboard poster depicts clichéd tropical paradise, as pulled out of the bin; an old geographic book plate bears the words “map of the ocean” but the image is missing; hand-painted graffiti, originally sprayed over Paris during the revolts of ’68, states "sous le paves, la plage" (Beneath the paving stones, the beach). Each work suggests a sense of place but is ultimately reliant on the viewer for its context. Davila reclaims paradise from the package tour only to rob us of our rose-tinted glasses.