A new timely exhibition exploring alternative portraits of the late Baroness Thatcher, opens at London's
Gallery Different with a private view on
Wednesday 17th April (the day of Lady Thatcher's funeral) The exhibition sponsored by Art Below features 10 artists including Jonny Briggs, Team Beswick & Pye, Paul Tecklenberg, and their depictions of 'The Iron Lady'. The show is open to the public for 10 days, exhibiting 10 artists, tying in with the 'No.10' theme
Paul Tecklenberg says: "I was born in Corby, a vibrant steel town with the sounds and smells permitting the atmosphere from the alchemy of making steel from iron ore. This came to an abrupt end in 1981 when the blast furnaces were snuffed out and over 16,000 men lost their jobs and dignity. Unemployment reached 30%. With no jobs, no prospects and no future, Corby became a ghost town. Thatcher brought the industrial revolution to an end with the closure of the pits, the steel works, the ship yards, the train yards and British Leyland. This was the brutal reality of free market economics at work that put millions of people onto the scrap heap and created the culture of living off benefits. Of course to others Thatcher delivered opportunity and prosperity and some might say made Britain great again. This work was made 22 years ago to mark the end of Thatchers leadership and the 10th anniversary of the closure of Corby Steel Works. Her image is printed on steel, the material she is linked to and the industry she killed off."
“All the artists in the show have one thing in common, we all grew up as Thatcher’s children”
remarks Ben Moore, Director of Art Below (pictured above). “Some of the artists like kennard phillipps whose
depiction of Thatcher is part of the Tate collection already have work at hand, however some artists are creating work especially for the show like Carne Griffiths and Matt Small..
Thatcher’s recent death has highlighted the divide in people’s thoughts and feelings towards her and I hope this comes over in the exhibition”
(ABOVE: "Great Britain Is Great Again" by Team Beswick and Pye)
For press release, high resolution images please email
ironlady@artbelow.org.uk
Telephone: 0208 948 4491
‘
Thatcheristic’ Private View is on Wednesday 17th April 6 - 9pm Gallery Different 14 Percy Street London W1T 1D if you wish to attend please let them know:
rsvp@artbelow.org.uk
Below is a photo of Team Beswick & Pye's painting being featured on the BBC 1 News at 6.30pm taken on my Dad's phone)
Paul Tecklenberg says: "I was born in Corby, a vibrant steel town with the sounds and smells permitting the atmosphere from the alchemy of making steel from iron ore. This came to an abrupt end in 1981 when the blast furnaces were snuffed out and over 16,000 men lost their jobs and dignity. Unemployment reached 30%. With no jobs, no prospects and no future, Corby became a ghost town. Thatcher brought the industrial revolution to an end with the closure of the pits, the steel works, the ship yards, the train yards and British Leyland. This was the brutal reality of free market economics at work that put millions of people onto the scrap heap and created the culture of living off benefits. Of course to others Thatcher delivered opportunity and prosperity and some might say made Britain great again. This work was made 22 years ago to mark the end of Thatchers leadership and the 10th anniversary of the closure of Corby Steel Works. Her image is printed on steel, the material she is linked to and the industry she killed off."
“All the artists in the show have one thing in common, we all grew up as Thatcher’s children”
remarks Ben Moore, Director of Art Below (pictured above). “Some of the artists like kennard phillipps whose
depiction of Thatcher is part of the Tate collection already have work at hand, however some artists are creating work especially for the show like Carne Griffiths and Matt Small..
Thatcher’s recent death has highlighted the divide in people’s thoughts and feelings towards her and I hope this comes over in the exhibition”
(ABOVE: "Great Britain Is Great Again" by Team Beswick and Pye)
For press release, high resolution images please email
ironlady@artbelow.org.uk
Telephone: 0208 948 4491
‘Thatcheristic’ Private View is on Wednesday 17th April 6 - 9pm Gallery Different 14 Percy Street London W1T 1D if you wish to attend please let them know:rsvp@artbelow.org.uk
Below is a photo of Team Beswick & Pye's painting being featured on the BBC 1 News at 6.30pm taken on my Dad's phone)
What's that elephant doing in 10 Downing Street?
ReplyDeleteYou've still got time to repaint the head... She looks rather like a bald man wearing a wig at the moment. You've got Dennis just right, though!
"Elephant in the room" is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.[2]
ReplyDeleteIt is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, people in the room who pretend the elephant is not there have chosen to avoid dealing with the looming big issue.
Well, yes, but is it supposed to be a specific elephant, and if so what elephant could it be? The Poll Tax? Michael Hestletine? The IRA? I looked for clues attentively, but found none!
ReplyDeleteWhen Mrs T became elected she said:
ReplyDelete“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”
And then later when asked if she had reached her goal she said that she had and claimed that because of her "Great Britain was great again". Gordon Beswick and I talked about how we saw her and the impact her policies had on people around us as we were growing up. We both liked the idea of doing a painting that was open to interpretation. The painting has had some interesting responses. Most reactions were very positive lots of people said they loved it. However, a couple of people told us we had gone too far - they thought we were saying Great Britain is great again because Mrs Thatcher is dead. Maybe they saw me and Gordon as angry and bitter people? I was shocked when one person thought my image of her husband Dennis was meant to be Micheal Foot but I guess there is a likeness. Someone on Facebook left a comment that just said: "How could you?" I guess you can only please some of the people some of the time. But in answer to your question it's for the viewer to decide what he or she thinks is the obvious truth that makes Thatcher's claim untrue (or not)