The Civic Gallery of Modena inaugurates Friday 12 September 2014 at 18.00 at Palazzo Santa Margherita the exhibition “Jamie Reid. Ragged Kingdom”, dedicated to Jamie Reid (1947), British artist linked to Situationism and anarchist movements, inventor of the Sex Pistols graphics, for which he gave life to radically revolutionary images, which became a symbol of the first wave of English punk.
"There isn't just one way to be close to our customers - said Giuseppe Gagliano, Central Director of External Relations at the Hera Group - in fact, alongside the services we provide, there is a whole world of cultural events and shows that it is important to promote and protect , because they represent essential ingredients of the quality of life of citizens. Taking care of this too is a goal that we try to achieve by keeping together the many excellent realities of our territory. The Galleria Civica di Modena is one of these”.
Reid's work, perfectly in line with the central theme of the festival and at the same time its antithesis, subverts every hierarchy and every rule and often expresses itself through the overturning of plans, systematic mockery, demystification. The Queen of England with swastikas on her eyes, the Union Jack with safety pins and the writing "Anarchy in the UK" are among the most famous icons of a period which saw the coexistence of profound and radical instances of social renewal with "Rock and Roll's Biggest Scam".
Drawings, paintings, collages, photographs to tell the best results of the talent of an artist who has always been opposed to the established power, who has opened new paths in the world of image and communication.
The main hall of Palazzo Santa Margherita will host the large installation which also gives the title to the exhibition (“Ragged Kingdom”) made up of some Indian teepees – figures of welcome, refuge, protection, therefore of peace and dialogue – painted by the artist, all inside which each visitor will find a stack of printed sheets with which he can build his own personal "catalogue" of the exhibition.
On the upper floor, instead, about sixty drawings, paintings, collages, graphics, projects, photographs that summarize Reid's artistic career starting from the beginning, during which he elaborates the style and some images - think of the buses with the destination "Nowhere" – which will then flow into the punk iconography, to dwell more deeply on the period closely connected with the Sex Pistols. Of this intense activity, which lasted from 1976 to 1980, there are about thirty works on display, including a collage of almost 8 meters in length ("Mural"), which represents a real summa. There is also a selected selection of more recent works, in which anarchist and situationist themes are flanked by motifs linked to a magical and shamanic universe very dear to the artist expressed through cosmological, druidic, esoteric symbols
The exhibition is accompanied by a crowdfunding project, the collective financing system that mobilizes people and resources to support an idea. To contribute you must connect to the site www.com-unity.itupon free registration.
visual by Jamie Reid, © Jamie Reid courtesy Isis Gallery, UK
Biographical notes
Jamie Reid, born in Croydon, Surrey, in 1947, after attending the Art College of Wimbledon and the Art School of his hometown, in 1966 designed a cover for the British publication "Heatwave". In 1970, together with Jeremy Brook and Nigel Edwards, he worked at the "Suburban Press", a radical and neo-situationist press organ. In 1974 he collaborated on the layout of "Leaving the 20th Century" by Christopher Gray.
In 1975 Jamie moved to the Isle of Lewis.
Between 1976 and 1980 Jamie worked full-time with the Sex Pistols, both producing artwork and publicity material for a variety of singles and LPs.
In 1980 he worked on the film “The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle” and produced artwork for Malcolm McLaren's new protégés, Bow Wow Wow. Jamie then moved to Paris where he worked on an unpublished theatrical play, "Chaos in Cancerland". In 1983 he moved to the London district of Brixton and held an exhibition at the Brixton Art Gallery. In 1985 he signed the poster for the film “Letter to Brezhnev”. In 1986 he had an exhibition at Hamiltons Gallery, Mayfair, London.
Between 1986 and 1990 he worked for various graphic studios in London. In 1987, Faber and Faber published "Up They Rise: The Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid", with lyrics by British music journalist Jon Savage. Jamie then signs the cover for the single "Revolution Baby". Celtic Surveyor: More Incomplete Works of Jamie Reid was published in 1989.
Jamie then began working at Strongroom recording studio, East London, and started producing murals, paintings, logos and artwork. This is a particularly important project in the artist's career, on which Jamie Reid has been working for about ten years.
A Strongroom tepees will be on display in Modena.
In 1991 he worked on the single "No Regrets" and directed the video for the same single. In 1992 he staged the "Celtic Surveyor" exhibition at Britannia Hall (Derry), an exhibition which later opened in Liverpool, Manchester and Berlin, and simultaneously signed the cover for "Shamanarchy in the UK", a compilation by the London collective known as Evolution .
In 1994 Jamie Reid donated copies of 'Peace Is Tough' (with picture of John Wayne), and 'Corporate Slavery', to War Child.
In 1995 he worked with Zion Train and participated in the world's first "interactive interview" on CD-ROM. In 1996, after a visit to the Strongroom, the group Sound System Afro-Celt was formed. The artist signs the cover of their first album “Volume 1: Sound Magic”.
Between 1997 and 1999 he presented the retrospective "Peace is Tough" in New York, Tokyo and in various European cities. In 1999 Sound System Afro-Celt released their highly anticipated second album 'Volume Afro Celt Sound System 2', incorporating further signature artwork by Jamie Reid. Jamie then exhibited some of his work at the Workhaus as part of the Liverpool Biennial and married his muse, Maria. In 2000 he decorated the Magic Room of the rock'n'roll Hotel Pelirocco in Brighton, East Sussex. In 2001 'Peace Is Tough' opened to the public in Arches, Glasgow and produced the 'Maridala' image for the Cannabis legalization campaign and artwork for Afro Celt Sound System's third album 'Further In Time'. Throughout this period Jamie continues to produce drawings, paintings and photos used in shamanic rituals, festivals and events. And he finds the time to produce work for a number of other artists, including Boy George for whom he signed the graphics of the "More Protein" label.
In 2004 he contributed to the group show “Pax Britannica” held at the Aquarium Gallery in London: works by Richard Hamilton, Anthony Caro and Ralph Steadman were also on display. In 2006, again at the Aquarium Gallery in London, he participated in the group show "Eightfold Year" which presented 365 works relating to all stages of life: birth, life, decline and death, both from the point of view of human life and in the progression of the seasons. In 2007 in the same venue he presented "May Day May Day" a retrospective that traces his career starting from 1968. Important private collections in the United States and the United Kingdom begin to enter pieces and works by Jamie Reid.
The collaboration with the Japanese fashion company Comme des Garçons dates back to 2008 and his works enter the permanent collection of the Tate Britain.
In 2011 the teepees were featured for the first time as an installation in Jamie Reid's exhibition “Ragged Kingdom” at the Isis Gallery/Londonewcastle Depot in London in 2011. Recently Jamie has participated in international exhibitions such as Recontres Arles (2010) and Art IN the Streets at MoCA (2011).
He collaborated with Shepard Fairey and made important visuals for Free Pussy Riot and Occupy movements.
Jamie Reid. Ragged Kingdom
Civic Gallery of Modena – Palazzo Santa Margherita, corso Canalgrande 103, Modena
September 12, 2014 - January 6, 2015
