Independent curator
"Life Class: Royal Acdemy of Arts, London (Portrait of the Oriental)" 2007 Photography: Jonathan Purcell
My curatorial practice has morphed into my recent artistic practice... I use the strategies of the curator to make, 'self-read' and manipulate the work of art, pre- and post-performance. By conceptually (and literally) taking the position of the life model, I aim to reappraise the relationships of power within this traditional format for the observation of the human body. My recent projects aim to collaborate with existing groups of professional/amateur artists and members of the public to develop presentations of work inverting the relationship between model and artist, artist and audience.
For me, curation means working within existing power structures and hierarchies to reveal the nature of the relationship.
My interests, subjects and concerns include: Life Class, Artist and Model, Academy Museum & Studio, Public and Private Space, Archive Fever, Self-portraiture, Autobiography, Power & Institution/Knowledge/Discourse, Artist as Model, Techniques of the Observer, Drawing versus Painting versus Printing versus Photography versus Film versus Video versus Sculpture versus Performance versus Life!
My styles and influences include: "Royal Academy of Arts" versus "The Works", Joke Shops, Performance Art Documentation from 70's and 80's, Andy Warhol's Wig, The Jeff Koons Handbook, Mark Wallinger, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes, Eccles Precinct and Public Library, "A Hatful of Hollow", M.C. Escher and Robert Mapplethorpe's Whip.