Alasdair Duncan has been described as making post-pop Prouns - referring to El Lissitzkys term related as an abbreviation of design for the confirmation of the new, or as "the station where one changes from painting to architecture". Duncans signs for the future (or designs for such) are stand-ins, signifying things that do not yet exist, which are not yet imagined. Duncan produces color-saturated graphics applied across a variety of media, including wall paintings, banners, gouache, and prints on paper or in vitreous enamel on steel. Duncan is interested in making art that reflects an expansive, confident and optimistic outlook, that the world as it is now can be made different and better. At a time when the future is represented in terms of fears rather than opportunities, when a catastrophic end to the world is easier to imagine than the progressive enactment of substantively new, different and better ways of living. Duncans work manifests the hope of real affirmative social and material conditions of possibility that exist now, but which are beyond our view from the state of affairs in which we now find ourselves. Duncans pieces are titled in the language of Je Zaum. Zaum being the name of the language coined by the Russian Futurist poets Velimir Khlebnikov and Alexei Krucheykh, it is a combination of the Russian prefix за beyond, behind and the noun ум the mind, nous. Zaum is described as a universal language, a language of indeterminate meaning that stands in for thoughts yet to be conceived. Duncan describes the term Je as indicating something akin to new in Je Zaum. Alasdair Duncan is a graduate of the Royal Academy School Post Graduate program, and received a BA from Goldsmiths College. An Introduction to the Future is the first exhibition presented by Theodore:Art, a contemporary art gallery and consultancy, presenting exhibitions of works by emerging and established artists from the UK and the US, in a variety of settings and contexts. Twenty years after opening her first gallery in SoHo, Stephanie Theodore is at it again with Theodore:Art. By bringing a selection of emerging European artists to the US, Theodore:Art offers a window of opportunity to discover promising artists early in their careers. Theodore:Art will present a series of exhibitions at Ecoartspace, a not-for-profit organization. A contribution to Ecoartspace will be made from the proceeds of every sale from these exhibitions. For more information and images, please contact Stephanie Theodore at 212 966 4324 or theodoreart@gmail.com. http://www.theodoreart.com/ Audio: "Robots" by Marianne Nowottny from the 2001 cd release "Manmade Girl" http://payplay.fm/nowottny2 http://www.mariannenowottny.com

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