07 September - 07 October 2006: Rome
35 Heddon Street, London W1
Jonathan Horowitz takes as his subject the Eternal City. Rome, as the keystone of western civilisation, becomes an all encompassing imaginary construct; the embodiment of the ideal society, the epitome of decadent society. By extension Horowtiz considers its status as the model for totalitarian and democratic governments, from Napoleon to the US founding fathers to Mussolini and Hitler. The exhibition centres on a new video, which weaves together strands from documentaries about ancient Rome, Mussolini and the making of the movie Ben Hur. Working across a variety of media, Horowtiz focuses on the iconic forms of antiquity - pillar, arch and idealized human form. He also examines the kind of spectacle that defines the ‘Fascist style’, questioning its proximity to more generic trends in popular culture.