Simeon Barclay, With The Thrust of Their Frames They Cut New Forms, 2016

Detail images of With The Thrust of Their Frames They Cut New Forms by Simeon Barclay

"Simply through being an artist Barclay defies working-class expectations, in a climate where artistic practice seems more and more of a luxury for those who can afford to study art and the uncertain prospects of earning a living that typically follow.

However, Barclay provides a conflicted voice; he is at once the northerner heading down to London to put it 'up 'em' as well as the artist who references fashion and theatre alongside more typically masculine, working-class pursuits such as sport. Much of Barclay's work lives on this knife-edge, such as in 'With The Thrust of Their Frames They Cut New Forms', 2016, a three-panel construction of blue acrylic featuring an image of a rugby player straining to catch the ball juxtaposed with an image of Kate Bush, who positions her body in a similar pose.

This particular image selection also demonstrates Barclay's interest in gender boundaries; the rugby player and Bush may find themselves in similar poses, but they could not look more different, he representing masculinity with his mud-covered

kit and straining muscles, she presenting an effortlessly graceful pose. Included in With the thrust of their frames they cut new forms, 2016, is an image of the actress Maxine Peake as Hamlet, her androgynous appearance suggesting a less binary attitude towards gender. This is developed further when Barclay looks at masculinity specifically and the apparent risks of breaking away from traditionally masculine appearance and behaviour. [...} Hard-edged and uniformly shaped within their groupings, the surfaces for Barclay's 'structures' hold a minimalist appeal. They are industrially manufactured objects, but they have been manufactured with care, a manifestation of the material luxury Barclay aspired to when reading Vogue in his youth. Barclay's imagery, however, takes the work beyond abstract material appeal, demonstrating a visual wit but also combining

apparently disparate concepts to tell multi-layered narratives about our society and the artist's place within it."

A portrait of Simeon Barclay holding a transparent overhead projector acrylic that says 'plus so much more' backwards in marker pen in front of his face.

Simeon Barclay

Related Artist

Simeon Barclay

London

Newcastle