Terrence Higgins Trust - 2024, Timed Auction

Born in Mysore, India but raised and educated in the UK, Alexis Kersey brings a particular unique viewpoint to that of the colonial past and cultural heritage of the British in India. Kersey trained with the billboard and signboard painters in South India, and brings this aesthetic and style to his works: the colour, the exaggeration, the brassy advertising posture.

This is one of two works by Kersey offered in The Auction. Both works show Kersey putting into place his preoccupation with identity both personal and cultural, ethnic and regional, particularly as it is posited towards India. The artist has created a mythical race of beings, born anew in post-independence India, and responding to the global pressures of the contemporary world. These happy beings, originating as characters in educational manuals, are happily trying to function in their new roles as part of a modern global India. One can imagine that in this new ‘super race’ the Town Crier is calling the citizens of the new India to come together to a new bright future.

Donated by RL FINE ARTS

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