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.

Head with Two Men is one of two works by Kersey offered in The Auction. These happy beings of post-independence India, originating as characters in educational manuals, are happily trying to function in their new roles as part of a modern global India. Head with Two Men is distinctly derived from much poster and calendar images of the Hindu deities with a particularly Surreal twist that echoes the many images by the famous Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte of floating heads before sea/water views; water representing the visible form of the unconscious and dream world. What might this ‘head’ be thinking of?

Donated by RL FINE ARTS

Website: www.rlfinearts.com