Description

Scandal, 2019. Silkscreen with pearlized ink and collaged elements on 190gsm Saunders Waterford Hot Press paper. 105 x 183 cm. Edition of 20 + 3 APs. Signed and numbered. Framed. The limited edition Scandal, 2019 by Blondey McCoy is released in collaboration with Serpentine Galleries, London. The work is inspired by the Profumo affair, the scandal which destabilised British politics in the early 1960s and led to the resignation of government minister John Profumo. Placing the spotlight on British high society, the affair asked questions of celebrity, morality and identity, issues that appeal to the core concerns of the artist's practice. The artist describes the work as a reflection on changing cultural and societal norms, specifically in regard to figures of power and authority and the public's expectation of these individuals. These are themes that resonate particularly given the turbulent backdrop of contemporary British politics and to which the catalysing events of the Profumo affair could be seen as relatively trivial. Scandal sees Blondey continue his appropriation of found imagery, utilising collage to juxtapose the glamour of the sixties against an enduring symbol of the British political establishment.