I have used the car not only as a sexual image, but as a total metaphor for man’s life in today’s
society.
--JG Ballard
Gagosian Gallery London will present “Crash,” a major group exhibition opening on 11 February
2010, which takes its title from the famous novel by JG Ballard.
Ballard’s novels stand among the most visionary, provocative literature of the twentieth
century, with his ominous predictions regarding the fate of Western culture and his insights into
the dark psychopathology of the human race. This exhibition is a response to the enormous
impact and enduring cultural significance of his work, following his death in spring 2009.
Highlighting Ballard’s great passion for the surreal and his engagement with the artists of his
own generation, “Crash” includes examples of his specific inspirations as well as works by
contemporary artists who have, in turn, been inspired by his vision.
Ballard’s first published short story “Prima Belladonna” appeared in 1956, the same year as the
celebrated Independent Group’s exhibition “This is Tomorrow” at the Whitechapel Gallery, which
marked the birth of Pop Art in Britain. It was here, and in the work of Surrealists such as
Salvador Dali and Paul Delvaux, that Ballard found the seeds of what he called a “fiction for the
present day”. With its dystopian depictions of the present and future, its bleak, man-made
landscapes and the recounting of the psychological effects of technological, social and
environmental developments on humans, his work has resonated strongly among other writers,
filmmakers and visual artists. The exhibition “Crash” brings together works by artists tuned to
the Ballardian universe, from his contemporaries such as Ed Ruscha, Richard Hamilton, Andy
Warhol and Helmut Newton, to younger artists such as Tacita Dean, Jenny Saville, Glenn Brown
and Mike Nelson.
The exhibition is organised in association with the Estate of JG Ballard.