Kathleen Hearn: Eat ’em and Smile

Eat Em and Smile is a nostalgic homage to the performer David Lee Roth; best known for his hard rocking, flamboyant days with the band Van Halen. Covering the 1984 chart topper Jump, the project collaborates with local musicians to transform the singer’s super hit from rock anthem to love ballad and in the process becomes part portrait of performers that revision the song. Hearn’s interest in the performer began in the 80s where the iconic theme song and video Jump was a chart breaker and popular mainstay on the then new MTV music show. Today the interest is part curiosity, part nostalgia for that fall from the public eye and the struggle for and tenuous nature of fame.

KATHLEEN HEARN practices video, installation, photography and performance in Toronto. Her current work explores the remake in relation to popular culture, music, and art in order to reexamine forms from everyday life and culture. She is currently working on a project collaborating with teens to remake scenes from coming of age films. Hearn’s work has been shown across Canada and in Argentina and Beijing.

Read ROBRTA BUIANI‘S Eat ‘Em and Smile, an essay about KATHLEEN HEARN‘S exhibition.