Residency sees queer artists collaborate on Claude Cahun inspired art project
Artist Karl Murphy
ArtHouse Jersey is currently hosting artist Karl Murphy for a work-in-progress art project inspired by the enduring legacy of work left behind by Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore in Jersey.
Within the context of their relationship to the Island, Karl Murphy is collaborating on I Extend My Arms, Cahun and Response alongside queer artists Lewis G Burton, Dr Adam Perchard, Yasmine Akim and Jack Killick.
During the residency the artists hope to engage and uncover Cahun’s thinking and reactivate their relationship to the Island to re-ignite Jersey as a channel for creative reflection. Murphy said “If Cahun’s work was situated in response, we ask how then can we reenact or reimagine this mode of response. To connect with the ancient and heartbeat of that monolithic rock. To say thank you, to stage sanctuary and consideration. To limit ourselves to that Island as Claude did. To use and inhabit the Island as Claude did.”
Karl Murphy would like to extend the invitation to other members of the public who might like to join the artists to consider these themes during the residency at Greve de Lecq Barracks. Anyone interested in connecting with Karl and collaborators this week or next can email info@arts.je in the first instance.
The residency will then culminate in a showcase on Friday 24 February at 7pm to share the outcomes of these explorations to the public. Anyone wishing to attend the event can reserve a place for free via ArtHouse Jersey’s Eventbrite.
CONTEXT: A few words from artist Karl Murphy
Jersey is home to secrets. Dotted around the Island are pagan monoliths which are older than the pyramids. Seminal artist Claude Cahun called Jersey their home for a multitude of years, and around the world Cahun is recognised as one of the most impactful queer artists of their time. Choosing the name Claude and choosing Jersey as their refuge, Cahun and their partner Marcel Moore explored every nook and cranny of the Island, tapping into the ancient pulse of the earth and the oceans. Within the Island itself there is very little mention of Cahun and their significant contributions to contemporary culture. Through photography, sculpture, performance and writing Cahun explored the interconnection between self, the environment and the multitudes of identity like never before, saying: “Under this mask, another mask. I will never be finished removing all these faces.” Claude Cahun, 1930.
Pictured from left to right: Lewis G. Burton, Dr Adam Perchard, Yasmin Akim Jack Killick
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Karl Murphy is a multidisciplinary artist raised in Jersey, currently living in London. Murphy’s practice considers Fiction and its effect on reality. Seeking to create alternative propositions to languages of capital, they strive to create moments of calm, wonder, reverence, and consideration, using poetry, folklore and storytelling as vehicles for meaning. Murphy is Fine Art Alumni of Central Saint Martins, and has been commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Art, having their work written about as part of an Oxford University Paper ‘Catastrophically Queer’. They have shown as part projects with the Tate Modern’s Tate Exchange series and The National Gallery part of the London and Learning National programmes. Murphy is a member of the Saatchi Gallery learning team and facilitates their own poetry workshops as part of their One Word Workshop Series with Lily Stevens.
Lewis G Burton is an internationally renowned DJ, performance artist, curator and activist. They have been at the forefront of London’s underground queer scene for nearly 10 years, nurturing the next generation of trans revolutionaries, queer techno goths, club kids and drag queens. Burton also runs queer techno rave come art platform INFERNO, a club night that champions trans+, non-binary and femme identifying individuals. As an extension of the club night they also curate an annual seminar the INFERNO SUMMIT which has received backing from the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art). Burton works closely with London Trans+ Pride fighting for the rights of trans+ people as well as organising their annual marches to oppose transphobic legislation, the right to self-identification as well as intersex and non-binary rights. They are also a member of collective Pxssy Palace. Burton comes from recently performing their commissioned performance ‘Transphoria’, a re-imagining of trans joy, desire and violence through mythology and movement shown at The Institute of Contemporary art.
Dr Adam Perchard is a critically acclaimed singer, playwright, and poet. A trained opera singer, they read English at the universities of Oxford and York, and have published widely in the fields of postcolonial studies and eighteenth-century literature. They have performed on Channel 4 and at the National Theatre, the London Coliseum, the Soho Theatre, and the Edinburgh Fringe, and can be spotted on stages across Europe and the USA.
Yasmine Akim is a photojournalist based in London specialising in portraiture and events photography. They studied BA (Hons) in Photography at the London College of Communication. Akim states: “Social photography has always been a way for me to understand how to transcend negative boundaries through agency, as I believe that the personal is political. My portraits, in essence, are collaborations where the conversations leading towards the moment I begin to shoot are a means of pulling back internalized exterior perceptions of ourselves in order to find our way back to power through intimacy.”
They’ve shown at Autograph ABP as a part of The Missing Chapter Collective, The Red Gallery, The Horse Hospital & Ditto Press with their feminist photo zine ‘Vagina Dentata’. A fellowship program with Invisible Dust, they were previously a content developer for Shades of Noir (UAL). Additionally, their work has been published by The Independent, The Guardian, VICE, Afropunk, The Vinyl Factory, THE FACE and Dazed Digital.
Jack Killick's sculptures are often made up of large-scale forms and objects that are arranged in complex installations where mass and volume are determined by the space within which they find themselves. Taking inspiration from his surroundings, Killick creates imposing installations that can be at once intimidating and mischievous. He builds 'anti-monumental' sculptures from inexpensive, household materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim and plaster, leaving the seams of their construction visible, revealing the methods of their making. Jack Killick’s most recent paintings boast influences from Arte Povera to Pop Art, making bold use of colour and form as a means of expression. The resulting works appear fluid and compelling, heavily stylised forms are rendered in flat blocks of colour and architectural themes appear as a framework for exploring space both physically and mentally.
