arts & culture in contemporary society, and all the associations, generalisations and stereotypes that brings. In the lithographic print on the 2nd floor, Mutu addresses perceptions of conflicting cultural projections played out on the body, investigating themes of gender, race and colonialism.
MEL BRIMFIELD
Mel Brimfield is a performance artist known for her wit – she often references other artist’s works and popular culture in her own practice. This darkly amusing piece is a nod to the history of performed sculptures and to feminist artist Martha Rosler’s 1975 performance, Semiotics of the Kitchen. In it, Rosler dresses as an apron-clad housewife who parodies cooking demonstrations and the frustrations of oppressive gender roles – something we can all identify with from time to time. Here in On Board, an exhausted female protagonist is pinned to the wall by an ironing board, showing the complex balance between weight and gravity, but also hilarity and fear.
Mel Brimfield On Board, 2010 Black and white photographic print produced in association with Edward Moore and Joanna Neary Copyright the artist, courtesy Louise Clarke Collection
GILLIAN WEARING
Gillian Wearing Lily Cole, 2009 C-Type colour photograph printed on Matt Fuji Crystal Archive paper Copyright the artist, courtesy Louise Clarke Collection, image courtesy Counter Editions, Margate
You may have heard of Gillian Wearing before – her statue of the suffragist Millicent Fawcett stands in London's Parliament Square. Wearing often uses masks and prosthetics in her portraits to disguise the sitter, bringing into question the idea of masquerade and what we hide behind. This image is particularly striking because it’s Lily Cole, a famous actress and model who we
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feel is familiar to us simply because we recognise the image of her. But the mask is of the actress herself, and since it’s cracked it brings to mind the notion of the fragility of self-image. This idea of illusion is particularly relevant in today’s social mediadominated society where the digital version of ourselves is never quite the same as reality. It makes us question our ways of coping with the world outside, especially as women.
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