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Samuel Jones

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Researcher

Samuel Jones is a researcher at Demos. His research interests include culture and the arts, museums and galleries, creativity and the communication of ideas and knowledge through the cultural sector. In particular, he is interested in cross-cultural communications and the role of culture in international relations. In other work, he has focused on Global English and conversations. Recently, he has undertaken research in both the US and China.

Posted by Samuel Jones at 5:33pm on Friday, 1st December 2006

I've been meaning to blog this for a little while.  A couple of weekends ago, I went to a see an exhibition by the Birmingham artist, Barbara Walker.  It's currently on show at the Unit 2 Gallery at London Metropolitan University.

There are two reasons to go and see this show.  First, the close draughtsmanship of the works reveals close observation and familiar care.  As a result, they are deeply engaging and clearly very personal images.  Scenes on the walk home, the clock-tower and the cars parked on the roadside hang alongside closely observed and private sketches of a loved son.  The scenes are those of daily encountered life, the proximity of which to our own lives helps us to connect the show to a real and impassioned message. 

At the same time, the images bear another familiarity.  The official visuals of mugshots and artists’ impressions are replayed on front pages of the 8th July and on police dockets.  The warmth of the images and the coldness of authority make tell the second story about which we should all concern ourselves. I've copied the press release for the exhibition below – I leave it up to you to decide:

'Whilst the political and social ramifications of police ‘stop and search’ have from time to time figured prominently in the media, such debates have often been mired in polarised arguments about the perceived rights and wrongs of such policies. However, these debates rarely allow for the personal experiences of those affected by such ‘routine’ procedures to be heard. More often than not these voices become muted by depersonalised concepts such as public benefit, community policing and racial profiling, or even the belief that, as far as the police are concerned, there is ‘no smoke without fire’.

'Louder Than Words brings together a compelling body of new paintings and drawings that consider the motives behind and the impact of police ‘stop and search’. For artist, Barbara Walker, the issue of ‘stop and search’ resonates deeply. Over the past few years, her son, Solomon has frequently fallen foul of, what superficially might appear to be the police just doing their job within the community. Solomon has been regularly stopped, questioned and, on occasion had to suffer the indignity of phoning his mother from a local police station, to have her verify his identity. This treatment has driven Walker to explore the personal ramifications that such policing has had on her and her family.

'Walker’s new work comprises two distinct strands. In the series of large charcoal drawings of her son, Walker evokes all the compassion one might expect to find between this artist and her subject. However, there is more than a suggestion within these works that Walker is aware of other more pejorative modes of visual representation, in particular, the police mug shot or drawings of a courtroom trial. In this context, Walker’s portraits assume an altogether deeper level of resonance, central to which are the state mechanisms which in contemporary Britain still view the Black male as inherently and legitimately in need of ‘special’ policing.

'Using as a backdrop digitally enlarged copies of the dockets, what Walker refers to as “police detritus”, issued to her son (following each stop and search), Walker has also produced a series of poignant paintings and drawings of Birmingham’s city centre and suburbs. Although seemingly benign these cityscapes are also the locations where her son has been subjected to insidious and ongoing police scrutiny.

'These are remarkable works. Their apparent simplicity and power belies not only the skill of an accomplished practitioner but also, Walker’s ability to dispassionately but intelligently reflect on her predicament. Despite the personal significance of this work, there is, as Eddie Chambers writes, “nothing sentimental about these images” nor is there any “hint of the shrill or the hectoring”. Instead, Walker’s insight offers an astute and dignified riposte to what for many, not least a mother, would be the most trying of situations.'

If you get the chance, go and see the exhibition, it's on until 16 December.

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