Leigh ClarkeWorks

Absurdity as a means of protest has become a common oddity of everyday life. Fathers wear ‘superman’ costumes to climb bridges campaigning for more access to their children. University lecturers dress as apes demonstrating for better conditions of service. An MP enters the ‘Big Brother’ house, joins in the games and thereby politicises the programme. ‘Desperate Measures’ is a painting that depicts runners dressed in ‘silly’ costumes reaching the 21 mile mark of the 2005 London Marathon. The painting comprised developing a means of supporting and endorsing charitable work through creative practice that avoided condescension but at the same time highlighted the ‘desperate measures’ that many charitable organisations feel obliged to adopt in order to raise funds for their work. The painting therefore directly pictures the marathon runners but more obliquely draws attention to social injustices. An essential aspect of the painting was that it presented these matters to a gallery audience at a time within history that is not substantially marked by art’s direct involvement in social commentary. A further consideration was to give the painting high visual impact through a kaleidoscopic background to the running figures and through novelty snow-capped lettering for the slogan ‘Save The Kidz’ reflecting how desperate indeed the measures were as the 2005 London Marathon was one of the hottest on record.

Acrylic on canvas 2006
274 x 213 cm

The Walker, Liverpool.

Selected by Peter Blake, Jason Brooks and Tracey Emin.

Acrylic, spray paint and screen-print on canvas 2005
213 x 182 cm

Exhibited in Happiness Blues at Terrace Gallery