Stuart Brisley : JERUSALEM

16 Oct-30 Nov 2013

Overview

Stuart Brisley has been an important figure in British art for sixty years. He is best known for the series of key performance related works created in the 1970s and 80s that re-defined what “performance art” might be and encompass. Brisley used his body as a metaphorical and allegorical site to enact and comment upon how the individual situates him/herself between authority and freedom. What is often forgotten, however, is how long Brisley has been creating innovative work and the importance to his practice, alongside performance, of painting, photography, sculpture, video and drawing. His is a combative art involving the politicization of the body, and is imbued with a deep understanding of how rituals function in society and can be used to produce insights into the way that society operates. Today, at a time of increasing social and economic polarization, Stuart Brisley’s critical examination of the political status quo, and his critique of societal norms and prejudices, is as relevant and compelling as it ever was.