Cockney Rejects

About

Cockney Rejects: Part 1 Over the last year or so Steve Hines has been visiting charity shops around London, mainly in ‘Zone 2', and purchasing items that he believed would have been considered as art by the previous owner, and which would have been desired and valued. The resulting collection is comprised of original paintings, prints or reproductions, as well as two small sculptures. Hines has attempted to be objective in his choices and he has also endeavoured to curate a range of artworks. Cockney Rejects: Part 1 constitutes a conventional-style exhibition with the works hung and displayed in the white-wall gallery space. Each work is titled and its source indicated: the name of the charity shop, its location and the artist, (where known). This will allow visitors to make possible connections, and the exhibition may also raise other questions around class and community make-up for example. Will an artwork purchased in Hampstead be very different from one purchased in Whitechapel? At this point there will be no artwork on show that has been physically created, by Steve Hines, and so the exhibition will be concerned with popular art tastes, the status of the works on display and with the work of other artists. Cockney Rejects: Part 2 After one week the exhibition will change. The gallery will be closed whilst all the artwork on display is destroyed by the artist in a private performance, witnessed only by a video camera. The resulting installation and new video artwork will then constitute Cockney Rejects: Part 2. This new exhibition will then be presented for public viewing and it will also allow visitors who have not seen Cockney Rejects: Part 1 to view the before, middle and after elements of the show.