Featuring 13 trailblazing contemporary artists, Iconoclasts is
a new exhibition set to open at London’s Saatchi Gallery on 27
September 2017. Its theme is to explore experimental and
unusual image-making practices.
Thomas Mailaender “sunburns” cyanotypes of found images onto
people’s bodies, Kate MccGuire creates large sculptures by
repetitively layering crow feathers that echo the curved
sculptures of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and Josh Faught
uses the tradition of crochet, knitting, and tapestry-making to
explore queer identity and history.
While this group cannot be described as iconoclasts in the
traditional sense of the word, they are all driven by an
iconoclastic urge, which manifests itself in the intriguingly
diverse and often destructive ways they produce art. A
startling number of materials and techniques cohabit in one
exhibition, where abstraction, figuration, creation and
deconstruction combine.
By defying typical creative processes, the artists are
exploring what modern iconoclasm might be, and seek to engage
contemporary culture, politics and imagery within a range of
diverse image-making practices.
Main image: Maurizio Anzeri, Giovanni, 2009. Photographic
print with embroidery 51 x 41 cm © Maurizio Anzeri, 2017. Image
courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London
Daniel Crews-Chubb Rituals (bumba and belfie pink), 2016 Oil,
acrylic, spray paint and charcoal on un-stretched canvas 254 x
340 cm © Daniel Crews-Chubb, 2017 Image courtesy of the Saatchi
Gallery, London
Danny Fox Ice cream seller, 2016 Acrylic on canvas 243.8 x
304.8 cm © Danny Fox, 2017 Image courtesy of the Saatchi
Gallery, London
Dale Lewis Eurovision, 2015 Oil, acrylic and spray paint on
canvas 200 x 400 cm © Dale Lewis, 2017 Image courtesy of the
Saatchi Gallery, London
Thomas Mailaender Illustrated People #6, 2014 Lambda print on
paper mounted on aluminium and oak frame 110 x 80 cm © Thomas
Mailaender, 2017 Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London
Kate MccGwire Corvid, 2011 Crow’s feather and mixed media 122 x
331 x 149 cm © Kate MccGwire, 2017 Image courtesy of the
Saatchi Gallery, London
Renee So Man and Dog, 2012 Wool, oak frame 125 x 125 x 10 cm ©
Renee So, 2017 Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London
Douglas White New Skin For an Old Ceremony, 2011 Clay and steel
table Dimensions variable © Douglas White, 2017 Image courtesy
of the Saatchi Gallery, London
Alexi Williams-Wynn Echoes of the Kill (detail), 2015 Wax,
wood, steel 170 x 120 x 110 cm © Alexi Williams-Wynn, 2017
Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London