Curated by Ollystudio and in collaboration with Alessia De Pasquale
22 MARCH – 23 APRIL 2018
On 22 March the Saatchi Gallery will open The Missing Museum, an exhibition of new works by the artist PAKAL, in the Prints & Originals Gallery.
In 1962, ruins associated with the Gobekli Tepe tribe in Turkey were discovered. The evidence of their farming methods employed over 12,000 years ago turned the prevailing idea of human history upside-down. How many other tribes and ancient civilisations await discovery? Might everything we think we know about ourselves be open to question or doubt?
In a contemporary world of fake facts and believable fiction, the position of the museum has shifted. Museums used to be repositories of colonised objects asserting a prevailing institutional narrative. Now they have become sites of questioning and contemplation.
Within the Missing Museum, these ideas of fact and fiction intertwine. A presentation of previously unseen art and artefacts provides an insight into the culture of the Laka tribe. These are the remnants of a nomadic people who believed in creativity as a path to transformation and reinvention. Viewers are led to question the authority and authenticity of what they see before them and relate it to their own lives.
The figure of the artist Pakal is a mystery. The artist deliberately chooses not to reveal their gender, nationality or identity to detach the self from the artwork. The works communicate directly with the audience free from the labels or boundaries that are usually associated with who the artist is. The vivid colours and figurative elements are inspired by the Far East and the indigenous art of Central America. There are spiritual references, symbolic representations and imaginative flourishes to engage and reward the viewer.
The Artist
Pakal is the anonymous alter-ego of an established London-based artist. To date, the artist has not agreed to on-screen interviews or face-to-face interviews. However, the artist will reply to questions in writing.