Fools Rush In

Press release:

Fools Rush In is a solo print exhibition, exploring the autobiography and in particular how a contemporary ubiquity of its form has almost completely obliterated any sense of value, distinction and esteem.

Leigh Clarke’s work deconstructs popular and mass manufactured autobiographies that he collects from second hand shops and markets. He is interested in a consumerist obsession with premature legacies and fabricated life stories that often form the foundations of these books, against genuine heroic endeavours and achievements. Most of the books the artist purchases are unread and originally bought as token gifts, culminating in stacks of unwanted literature of other people’s lives. Fools Rush In is taken from the subtitle of Stoke-on-Trent born Anthea Turner’s autobiography.

Clarke is concerned with the ever-increasing inequality gap in the UK and how the media use celebrity hero worship as a means of keeping people apathetic. He dissects the books, leaving only the embossed spine which he then paints and applies printmaking ink to. This process of working removes any hierarchy or status between the famous personalities, creating equality through the process of making.

For his project at AirSpace, Clarke will work with students on the BA Fine Art course at Staffordshire University to locate and collect every autobiography to be found in charity shops across the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent. These discoveries will become the subjects and material for the exhibition.

To act as a counter to the celebrity culture which these glossy autobiographies represent, and to celebrate the life stories of local people in Stoke-on-Trent we have invited six local writers to ghost write a limited edition of autobiographies about local heroes. As a close to the exhibition, a book signing will take place allowing the public to meet the writers and their subjects. The books will be available to buy on the evening.

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