I have curated an exhibition of my own work, which will be held on Wednesday 28th March. My work is centered on the idea of ‘shooting the cannon,' or rather, questioning Art's historical backbone - a chronological 'cannon' of celebrated predominantly Western male artists. The Art History cannon is one of the reasons for the dramatic prestige surrounding famous and iconic artists that lead to an almost religious sacredness regarding their work to which thousands pilgrimage each year. This can also be applied to contemporary art: when I was lucky enough to do some work experience at Christie's Post-
war and Contemporary department I was shocked at the prices of some works that I felt were unimpressive and, in some cases, even silly. I realised that simply because of the name of the artist, these works were considered highly valuable. My thoughts were confirmed when my colleagues also laughed at the ludicrous prices of these child-like sketches or grotesque splotches of colour.
Inspired by this experience, I have reproduced Art that I have seen at various times in my life that I have been excited by merely because they are by an artist, which I knew to be acclaimed or important. I am by no means criticizing these works, as there is not a singly piece referenced in my exhibition which I don't love or admire, but rather questioning the 'religiosity' surrounding them. Each piece in my exhibition is a reproduction that I have altered in scale, colour, or material to make them my own. I am interested to know when a reproduction stop being a reproduction and becomes the artist's own work. Are my exhibition pieces any less my own just because they copy and mimic other artists' work?
Inspired by Grayson Perry's 'Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman', I have also been keen to explore the concept of curatorship. All exhibitions have a curator, but most make an enormous effort to 'hide' their presence so as to present what the public experiences as objective, when in reality it is far from this. It is unrealistic to aim for objectivity when experiencing an exhibition as everything from the blurb next to each work down to the order in which the pieces are presented is the curator's own personal opinion. Grayson Perry challenged this by making his own exhibition obviously and purposely
very personal. He doesn't ask his audience to think a certain way, but just to appreciate his own ways of thinking. I want to do this too. 'Shooting the cannon' is clearly a very personal exhibition for me, and I would like anyone who comes to see it to understand that these are my opinions and explorations, and that they should form their own views on what they see.
I have enjoyed creating and organising my exhibition so much, and this is why I would love everybody who is interested to come and see it!
