Take Me Back To When The World Made Sense

This month we have invited Artist and Co-Chair of the Axis Board of Trustees JC Candanedo to curate a selection of Axis Members' work using the Axis Gallery. Featuring: Mo White, Sophy King, Jill Impey, Bryan Eccleshall, Julieann Worrall Hood, Ashleigh Beattie, Pen Dalton, Sarah Joy-Ford, Garth Gratrix and Ducky Elford.

An artist's role in society is to try to make sense of the world around them and interpret that experience in their work. George Orwell wrote, "In a peaceful age, we might create ornate or merely descriptive art and might have remained almost unaware of our political loyalties." (Orwell, 1946). But, we are living in times when it seems impossible not to let the current state of the world inform everything we do.

There is however a sector of the art world that resists the notion that if lives are political, the work created by artists inevitably is as well. And this leaves artists who make work deemed as just political art looking at the art world from the outside in. Paraphrasing Alok Vaid-Menon, they will tell you to be yourself and create your own style, but then they will punish you when you do (Vaid-Menon).

The artists in this selection unapologetically tell the viewer where they stand. They use performance, installation, textiles, painting, sculpture, video and digital arts to make work that stands like a mirror where society's truths are reflected and inner dialogues about often overlooked issues begin.

• Orwell, G, Why I Write, (1946), The Orwell Foundation, link. 
• Vaid-Menon, A: [2024], https://www.alokvmenon.com/about.

About JC Candanedo:

I’m a Queer, Catalan-Panamanian socially-engaged Visual Artist and Photographer based in the UK. My practice explores how the Visual Arts can be used to bring attention to issues that might otherwise go unnoticed and create a sense of solidarity and connection among people who share common struggles.

I use photographic processes, mixed-media and performance to investigate Displacement, Identity and Migration, and participate in collaborative projects and community-based initiatives that promote Social Change. In all my projects, my main concern is to improve the lives of the Community members I work with and find ways in which the visual arts can influence and affect society. This can include creating awareness about a particular issue, challenging stereotypes, building new narratives, and promoting positive change. I'm passionate about using the visual arts to encourage Social Transformation.

I am the Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Axis, and a Fellow of the Center for Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. I am also a member of the Association Of Photographers - AOP, and a Students' Career Mentor at the School of Art of Kingston University.

Ultimately, my goal is to use my work to help make the World a Better place through Creativity, embedding Social Purpose in everything I do.