Stephen Friedman Gallery is delighted to present Engagement, American artist Jennifer Rubell’s first UK solo exhibition of new work.

Private View Monday 7 February, 6 – 8pm

Responding to the news of the recently announced official engagement between Prince William and Kate Middleton, Rubell presents a provocative, interactive sculptural installation and a series of accompanying paintings. Inviting the viewer to participate in this fairytale-like coupling, the works engage with a narrative currently at the forefront of public interest, and explore the already iconic mine of imagery that has been borne out of this moment of declaration.

Realising the traditional portraiture genre anew in Engagement (with Prince William sculpted by Daniel Druet), Rubell presents a minutely detailed, life-sized wax model of Prince William, mounted off-centre on a low white plinth. William stands in the exact stance seen in coverage of the engagement announcement. The famed engagement ring rests empty however, affixed to his forearm. Rubell invites the public to step up onto the plinth, slide their arm through William’s and slip their finger through the iconic sapphire and diamond ring, first made famous by the Prince’s late Mother, Diana.

The ensuing picture of royalty and its subject rests somewhere between an official portrait and seaside entertainment. By stepping momentarily into Kate’s position, the work enables one not only to consider afresh the expectations of marriage (or civil partnership) as it is both imagined and experienced, but also the fantasies that this work might ignite within the participant. An illustration of democracy, the realisation of culture’s Prince Charming fantasy, or an encapsulation of the contemporary monarch (and monarch’s spouse): the work allows each visitor to project their own feelings and illusions on to this global figure of power.

For further information about Jennifer Rubell please go to http://jenniferrubell.com/

Stephen Friedman Gallery
25-28 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AN

Gallery hours are: Tuesday to Friday, 10am – 6pm and Saturday, 11am – 5pm
For further details please contact Alice Walters on +44 (0)20 7494 1434