JOHN FOXX/DNA EXHIBITION

Tuesday July 28th - Friday 31st July12-6pm Private View Monday 27th 6:30-9pm 'If I could only make a movie as textured and evocative as John Foxx's music I would be a happy man,' says Alex Proyas, the director of I,Robot, The Crow, Dark City and Knowing - this year's Number 1 box office hit in the UK and America. Proyas is the first contributor to be announced for the forthcoming DNA exhibition curated by ArtHertz, which celebrates John Foxx's influence on a wide selection of musicians, film-makers, visual artists, graphic designers and even Manga comics. The Australian director's film, GROPING is one of a number of short films that will be shown through the week-long event. According to Proyas: 'The film I made at film school, inspired by John's music - really from a mainly stylistic and atmospheric perspective - is called GROPING. When it was shown at the Sydney Film Festival in the early '80s, I used a section of lyrics from the early Ultravox track, 'The Quiet Men' in the programme... 'Waiting, we were waiting, as the traffic moved...' etc, which I found strangely fitting to the narrative... actually I almost called the film Waiting at one point. The film is about the brutal rape/murder of Kitty Genovese in NYC in the '60s but done in a very post-modern style.' 'John Foxx's 'Underpass' is an absolutely seminal inspiration to me,' he adds. 'While making GROPING, I actually heard 'Underpass' for the very first time - I remember it clearly - it was actually on my little bedside radio alarm very late one night - the only soure of music I had in my share household room and I used to play an alternative music station here in Sydney while writing my scripts. This incredible piece of music came on and it captured me from the first riff - it seemed someone had made music from the sounds of the city traffic, that struck me immediately. I turned up the radio and listened enthralled and waited to hear who the artist was. The vocals seemed familiar but I didn't recognise them. When they announced John Foxx I was so excited as I obviously recognised him from Ultravox, the band I was so impressed with. 'I think there's definitely a link with John's music to my film Dark City (and probably to anything I make!). Dark City had its origins in an early script I wrote at film school at the time I was particularly enthralled by Ultravox's Systems of Romance. I imagined the opening titles would be underscored by 'Slow Motion'. And 'Dislocation' featured in a sequence where the detective hero is slipped a drug and has an hallucinogenic episode. So while Dark City was not specifically influenced, I think the spirit of early Ultravox and John's Metamatic album is definitely in there. 'I think apart from his incredibly cinematic lyrics - John's music has always conjured entire movies in my head when I listen to it - I think it is his mastery of atmosphere that has stayed with me through the years. If I could only make a movie as textured and evocative as John's music I would be a happy man.'