‘The myth of Icarus is an embodiment of the spirit’s measureless ambition, of the intellect gone mad and of a hunger for power. Thinking of the civilizations that venerated the sun, we can only note their fall. I do not think our contemporary world will escape this: the sun literally burning away our skins, drying the earth and disrupting the magnetic fields.

As in myth, the current forms of power lay bare the irrationality and hunger they carry within. From this thought, and this point of view, from the moment in the myth in which Icarus hovers in mid-air, in which he desires, in which he aspires to his freedom and his death, I draw an allegory of the fall of Capitalism’s empire.’ - Mathieu Beauséjour, May 2013

Mathieu Beauséjour lives and works in Montréal. He has been presenting his installations, interventions and images since the mid 1990s. His works has been shown in Canada, in Europe and the Americas in artist-run spaces, private and public galleries, museums, biennials and festivals. ‘To Be Governed’ is Beauséjour’s second solo exhibition in the UK and marks the beginning of his Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec six month London Studio Residency, managed by Acme Studios’ International Residencies Programme.

All images © Mathieu Beausejour