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Rose Finn-Kelcey, House Rules, 2001.  Courtesy the Estate of Rose Finn-Kelcey

Rose Finn-Kelcey: Power for the People

Firstsite / December 2, 2017 - March 4, 2018 / Colchester, United Kingdom

http://firstsite.uk/whats-on/rose-finn-kelcey/

Power for the People brings together over four decades of work by highly-acclaimed and influential British artist Rose Finn-Kelcey, focusing on themes of self, empowerment and spirituality. Born in Northampton in 1945, Finn-Kelcey attended Ravensbourne College of Art and Design before moving to London in 1968 to study at Chelsea School of Art. She first came to prominence in the early 1970s as a central figure in Performance and Feminist art, and continued to develop an extensive output of innovative works throughout her career. Alongside her own practice, Finn-Kelcey taught at a number of art schools from the 1960s until her death in 2014. She was an abiding inspiration to many artists and significantly contributed to the development of the visual arts scene in Britain today.

Her work is distinguished by its unpredictability; no two works are quite alike. Despite or perhaps because of this continual reinvention, it is possible to pick out the reoccurrence of these key ideas in many of Finn-Kelcey’s works. The exhibition title is taken from a flag called ‘Power for the People’ installed by the artist on Battersea Power Station in 1972. In the early 1970s, Finn-Kelcey was fascinated by the weather as a subject for art and made a number of ‘wind dependent objects’, that relied on this intangible natural force. Whether through political statement, individual vulnerability or personal faith, Power for the People reveals a process of finding our own place in the world – and often doing so with some humour.

Firstsite
Lewis Gardens
High Street
Colchester, United Kingdom