See/ An Extraordinary turn of Events/ 3-29 November 2012
General Information
The series begins in London with Wedding Procession, which shows glimpses of the royal wedding and teams of white, plumed horses through abundantly leafy trees. St. Mark of the Farm, painted in three distinct tableaux, similar to a religious triptych, chronicles the birth, death, and funeral procession of a highly fictionalised Mark Duggan, shot by police in August 2011, precipitating four nights of rioting. Continuing the London theme, End of the Rainbow, in the shape of giant, Indian money pot, shows the historic relationships between art, religion, trade and banking in the City. Clare interviewed bankers from diverse parts of the industry to understand its more arcane aspects, pictured here in religious terms: Paternoster Square, for example, advertises ‘debt redemption’ above an image of ‘Our Lady.’
Two more pots record the rebellion in Iran and the Arab Middle East. Claudia Clare has close ties with Iran and in Missing, we see images of her with her friends at home in small-town and semi-rural Iran in winter. Continuing Unsettled shows her with her mother and an Iranian friend, a refugee, whose life has been upended by the turmoil. They avidly follow the news from Iran, Tunisia and Egypt, on a small screen in an English village. Though apparently more international and ‘newsy,’ these are the most intimate pots in the series.
Pageant completes the series depicting the procession of boats that drifted down the Thames, through cloud and rain, to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
In this exhibition, Claudia Clare has chosen to observe the grand events from the sidelines, depicting the wedding watchers in detail and the royal family from a distance. Similarly, world-changing events in the Middle East are seen through the eyes of a refugee in England, and the impact of revolution in Iran as graffiti on a mosque in small country town.
