John Goto's exhibition "Capital Arcade" is a fictional shopping mall juxtaposing the disparate value systems of Art and modern marketing in a series of pieces beginning and ending with the artist as the central figure. The narrative is a journey through the environment of our local mall.
Four decades after Pop Art discussed the lightness and vacuous nature of consumerism; Goto suggests its influence is not so light. Are we soon to approach the point as a society that we can no longer decide upon our system of values; but can only buy those offered up to us?
Although, with the use of parody, Goto does not discuss consumerism with an overly cynical voice. We all exist within this environment, and as Goto himself remarked; "The Arcade is after all an everyday part of my life, of all our lives, of which we partake."
Rather the artist points to an overwhelming lack of choice. " For my generation the crisis of the collapse of socialism at the end of 1989 has been a profound one, which has necessitated a rethink of our values and ideas. This series is part of that for me and hopefully for others."
With "Unit 9", the final work of the exhibition, we see Goto himself, seeming to leave the arcade behind him. The final façade is one of Art and literature in the midst of a closing down sale, to be replaced by a customer service and response centre. "
I feel the arcade asks that we only look forward",and if this is the case, how do we respond? On what system of value do we eventually judge consumerism , other than its own? But the artist also suggests hope.
As the sorrowful central figure of the final image looks back at the apparently redundant treasure of heritage (in which we find our parody), his shopping bags in hand (the contents of which are uncertain), it would seem that all is not yet lost as the forward thinking figure of youth stoops to retrieve a book, ...on Poussin.
John Goto is a British artist who lives and teaches in Oxford. The artist works internationally at the forefront of contemporary fine art that is based in the field of digital media. Having exhibited in suchnotable locations as Tate Britain, creating conceptual hybrids referencing the history of art and juxtaposing it with contemporary socio-political issues. "Capital Arcade" and other works can be viewed at www.johngoto.org.uk
