'The Persuaders'
Benedict Drew (b. 1977)
Achival Pigment Print on Metalurgy 200gsm.
edition 12/50
440 x 440
2012
£120 (including framing)
2013.015
Benedict Drew rhymes with ‘bad review’ which brings me to Adrian
Searle’s scathing mention of ‘The Persuaders’ when he wrote up the Circa
Projects commissioned project at Newcastle’s 2012 AV Festival.
The Persuaders was an installation of dizzying, ambient nastyness
at the Stephenson works in Newcastle. The centrepiece was a film that said ‘Breath
in’ ‘Breathe out’.
The Persuaders had a spectacularly incomprehensible text
with it which ended with the words ‘a complaint about the world will be lodged’. Actually
like Searle, I had a bit of a ‘wtf’ moment in there too. However, unlike Searle
who I saw running out of the installation, like the white rabbit with a judgement
to form, the shit flyer with the text on it to help guide his thoughts, a copy deadline and a train to
catch… I had time on my side.
When I came out, I saw this multiple on the wall and I
thought ‘that’s cool’ so I bought it.
Sometimes there really is no more than that to it.
Anyway Drew finds himself better reviewed in Art Monthly and
is named as a ‘future great’ in this month’s Art Review so he rhymes with ‘good
review’ too.
It hangs (at the moment) next to the Rayburn which keeps it rather
too warm and has a sort of a mashed potato/puff of smoke/letraset/smiley vibe going
on.
Context is everything and the context here at home is ‘Kitchen’.
They have some good multiples at Circa Projects. I
particularly like Eric Bainbridge’s sausage photo which would also be very ‘kitchen’
I’d buy that too but I know it would inspire a ‘wtf’ moment in my wife and
unlike my ‘wtf’ moments which induce a sort of digressive reverie, Lynn’s ‘wtf’
moments are normally accompanied by a scowl of a fortnight’s duration and a
list of 200 zillion other things that the money would be better spent on like a
new kitchen, Caribbean beach holiday, new and improved husband, etc.
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