Exhibition

Richard Walker: Cuckooland

22 Sep 2020 – 30 Sep 2020

Regular hours

Monday
Closed
Tuesday
11:00 – 18:00
Wednesday
11:00 – 18:00
Thursday
11:00 – 18:00
Friday
11:00 – 18:00
Saturday
11:00 – 18:00
Sunday
Closed

Save Event: Richard Walker: Cuckooland2

I've seen this

People who have saved this event:

close

Bermondsey Project Space

London
England, United Kingdom

Address

Travel Information

  • C10 Victoria to Canada Water (Stop F Bermondsey Street)
  • London Bridge - Borough
Directions via Google Maps Directions via Citymapper
Event map

A new body of work inspired by Ray Bradbury’s influential novel FAHRENHEIT 451, incorporating painting, drawing, film, music and spoken word across all three floors at Bermondsey Project Space

About

In August this year we celebrate the centenary of writer Ray Bradbury. His best known novel FAHRENHEIT 451 was written in 1953 and to mark this occasion, artist Richard Walker has produced a new body of work inspired by this influential book.

Rather like the other classic novels of the time, Brave New World and 1984, it deals with a dystopian future, predicting a totalitarian society where literature and education are banned, and books are destroyed by a fire brigade that starts fires rather than extinguishes them.

“Since working on this project there has been the Covid-19 pandemic, which uncannily echoes my theme. The current self-isolating, social distancing and culture of fake news has pushed my images into sharp focus, suggesting new interpretations and meanings. Ray Bradbury’s disturbing vision of an alternative world is now, sadly, all around us. 

“In the story, Bradbury predicts interactive TV, drones, the rise of terrorism, surveillance, the banning of intellectual thought, and the promotion of populism. Today’s general acceptance of the invasion of privacy, with apps such as ‘track and trace’, and algorithms being fuelled by the tyranny of social media, the characters in Bradbury’s novel would happily fit into today’s world 

“My title ‘Cuckooland’ is shorthand for this dumbed down society. Much of my work over 4 decades has focused on urban themes, often celebrating the dynamism of cities but also ambiguously revealing the dark side. I did work about both the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the London 7/7 bombings, being hailed as an ‘accidental war artist’ by The Times, alongside Henry Moore.

“Films with themes that have inspired me include A Clockwork Orange, The Stepford Wives, Alphaville, High Rise and the psychodramas of Hitchcock and Polanski. Also in visual art there are the empty cityscapes of De Chirico, the floating figures of Chagall, the postwar coded landscapes of Anselm Kiefer and the less known chunky modernist forms of the Italian painter Mario Sironi. 

“I try to absorb these influences, then forget them, and let a natural flow happen” 

Richard Walker, August 2020

What to expect? Toggle

Comments

Have you been to this event? Share your insights and give it a review below.