Alice Channer's 'Out of Body' at South London Gallery

Alice Channer's first solo show at a UK public institution, 'Out of Body', opened at South London Gallery on 2 March 2012. The installation, made entirely in 2012, spans the gallery's ten-metre height and twenty-metre walls. Works like 'Cold Metal Body', 'Large Metal Body', and 'Warm Metal Body' use digitally printed fabrics with images at human and non-human scales, referencing classical stone sculptures from the British Museum (Three Nereids, 390 BCE). Low freestanding sculptures 'Amphibians' and 'Reptiles' (the latter a cast of Topshop leggings) sit on the floor, while 'Eyes' and 'Lungs'—aluminium frames covered in spandex printed with stretched prints of Channer's arm—hang perpendicular to the walls. The curves of these frames derive from Yves Saint Laurent's drawings of his 'le smoking' suit. Channer discusses her use of industrial and post-industrial processes (digital printing, retouching), her interest in clothing as an object between 2D and 3D, and the inclusion of multiple kinds of time (human, capitalist, classical). She notes that her work often starts with a small detail expanded massively, and that she treats the gallery space as a body with its own materiality and authorship. The exhibition runs until 15 May 2012.