MCLEMOI GALLERY is pleased to present “Decepción”, Luis Gispert’s first solo exhibition in Australia. “Decepción” is the Spanish word for disappointment or disillusionment, in English the word translates to “deception.” Both meanings are relevant to Gispert’s photographs, as they disclose a neo-liberalistic realm of society. This body of work was an exploration in sociology over a 2-year period where Gispert sought out individuals in the United States that collect and/or craft unique customized vehicles in their backyards. The vehicles’ interiors were the project’s initial focus and the windshields viewpoint provides a frame for a transcendent landscape, which were shot independently. Their union creates a conversation between the classic landscapes and contemporary urban aesthetics.

Throughout Gispert’s researching process he discovered a subculture within a subculture. Besides the world of these car enthusiasts customizing vehicle interiors with designer themes Gispert uncovered an underlying micro-economy that had branched out of the mainstream lifestyle economy. The counterfeit designer reinterpretations of automobiles, furniture and custom garments began in Harlem, New York City in the early 1980’s. It started with the purchasing of Veblen goods that at the time were predominately consumed by a leisure class. Luxury goods typically associated with the upper classes were for the first time publicly appropriated and hybridized by a new class of wealth. Consisting of personal taste and aesthetics that transcended into dresses, shoes, and bedroom designs; they took a small part of this luxury and integrated it into their own cultural subversity. These anonymous creators appeared to relish the overuse of cultural symbols of wealth by communicating this trickle down system as their own. This lead to yet another layer in Gispert’s work, mirroring the political and complicated nature of the subjects and the affected culture at hand. Gispert’s subjects are products of a continuous cultural history.