One of the stranger exhibitions to grace London in recent years kicks off this evening at Seventeen Gallery. WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE CURATORS WHO WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS is a group show comprised of work by ten artists, each installed alone for two-day periods in the gallery's main space. The traditional notion of a group exhibition, whereby a series of artworks coalesce in support of an overarching topic or theme, is thus counteracted by the two anonymous curators' parameters, producing a scenario in which the collective interplay of the artworks actually occurs in a storage space, in the gallery's rear, built to wonky perfection by English artist Graham Hudson. There artworks by an international array of artists, including Benoit Maire, Ana Prvacki and Lovett/Codagnone, will be in full operation (including monitors and video projection), regardless of whether they await a turn on the exhibition stage or have just made their exit from it. By reframing the show to focus on the internal structure of gallery display, the curators have shifted their inquiry from the exhibited works to the institution itself -- a feat all the more notable for not rendering these artworks secondary in the process. As to the issue of anonymity, there seems to be just the right mix of self-effacement and provocation in the curators' decision to flex their critical muscle without formally taking ownership. - Tyler Coburn
