Rirkrit Tiravanija

Opening reception: Tuesday 13 October, 6–8pm

Pilar Corrias is pleased to present (situational awareness), Rirkrit Tiravanija’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery.

(situational awareness) comprises new paintings and performance at the gallery's Savile Row space. The exhibition draws a connection between British military history and the histories of labour, craft and production embedded within Savile Row itself.

The Financial Times coverage of the Iran War serves as the canvas for paintings portraying landscapes and seascapes linked to significant battles of the British Empire. Spanning Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, the works portray the sites of military victories and defeats that shaped the expansion, consolidation and eventual decline of imperial power.

Shown alongside this group of paintings, a practicing tailor deconstructs and reassembles nineteenth century military jackets within the gallery space. The gallery occupies premises historically associated with Gieves & Hawkes, the renowned tailoring house formed through the merger of two military outfitters that supplied uniforms to the British armed forces. 

Throughout his practice, Tiravanija has explored how social structures are produced through participation, exchange and collective experience. Here, the artist brings together painting, performance and craft to consider how imperial histories continue to be embedded within places, objects and forms of labour that persist into the present.