Barclay, Simeon
Simeon Barclay’s multidisciplinary practice draws on a range of influences and references – including sports journalism, fashion magazines, British working-class history and Afro-Caribbean culture – to explore memory, gender and the mediated image. Reflecting on and echoing the way that images are encountered in popular culture, 'An Arrangement on Blue (Swamp Rat Skank)' (2015) features a pair of legs striding down a catwalk, an anxiouslooking Jerry the cartoon mouse, and an infamous image of footballers Paul Gascoigne and Vinnie Jones, taken in 1988. In 'Capped' (2016), Barclay has reproduced Andy Capp – the character from Reg Smythe’s cartoon strip about a working class figure who never worked – in luminous neon.
Simeon's father emigrated from a small Island in the Caribbean- called Carriacou, near Grenada. As a child Simeon remembered the character of Andy Capp in the newspapers his father would read.
Later on in life, before becoming an artist- Simeon's work in industry, and would often see the character in newspapers again.
The character reminded him of people he would meet in the real world. Millind and floored characters- who have small minded views on the world. They would often lecture him on their various opinions.
This is where the title comes from. The character's values are handicap and small minded. The title is also a play on the character's name, Andy Capp.
Simeon also see's the materials the work is made out of, neon, as representing the vulgar and unruly.
- Artwork Details: 90 x 40 x 2.5cm
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- Material description: Multicolour neon, black acrylic
- Credit line: © the artist
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- Accession number: ACC44/2016