Bloc Billboard: Jack Cheetham
16 February – 13 April
Free & open to all
In recent practice, Jack Cheetham’s work examines why people attach importance to specific places and things, through paraphernalia associated with certain lifestyles and the re-contextualization of particular moments.
Cheetham’s research unfolds through the playfulness of seductive and/or disenchanting aspects of stylistic movements, materials, processes, techniques and the ever-growing circle of things in contemporary society. Through versions of recycling, ornamenting and editing processes, the work roots itself in concerns of masculinity, labour, tradition, storytelling, identity, education, humour, and fantasy in this highly consumerist time. The outcomes of his work often incorporate eclectic uses of the face found in caricature and portraiture, personifying the effects that objects and materials can have on us over time.
Cheetham’s billboard commission developed with Bloc Projects explores the psychological relationship between loneliness and anthropomorphism, in connection to consumerist desires. The work will compare anthropomorphic elements found in fantasy film sets to narratives related to mentalities of growing up and living in a UK city context. And will ask if these ‘objects/characters’ can tell us anything about the current state of social and political imaginations, desires and fears.
Jack Cheetham is based in Glasgow SCT. He currently holds a studio at Crownpoint Studios and graduated from the MFA programme at The Glasgow School of Art, SCT (2014). He also studied at Middlesex University London ENG (2009) and Bezalel Academy of Art Tel Aviv/Jerusalem (2013). Recent solo projects include: Gurdy, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, SCT; Chris, Horatio Junior, London ENG (2014).
Recent group projects include: Uncle Chop Chop, Glasgow SCT (Journal edited by Beagles & Ramsay) (2016); Bradley xx, Glasgow International, SCT (2016); Lair, VoidoidARCHIVE, Glasgow SCT (2016); I Drogum, Akurey Art Museum, Akurey IS (2016); Treat Yo Self, Bloc Projects Sheffield ENG (2015); Prehistoric Loom, Yada Shiman Gallery Nagoya JPN (2015); Dear Green, ZK/U, Berlin DE (2014).
This commission has been generously supported by Arts Council England.