WELCOME TO HOUSE
OF LORD ART
I'M ELIOT LORD
In brief I make political art . . .
So what does that really mean?
Me at the continuing September 2019 Brexit democracy protests in Parliament Square
Boris Can't Get Clean
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019, Leeds Art Gallery, Courtesy New Contemporaries. Photography by Jules Lister.
Trump on Trump Beanbag for Political Living Room 2019 final display
Quick Idea: Tory Story Badge 2019
How do we keep sane when following politics? When I listen to the budget and Parliament goes into jargon mode I lose the will to follow. Why can't they just keep it simple and say it like it is? It’s not rocket science. That's what I want to get through to people who say politics is boring or too complicated. It doesn't have to be. I call my studio work politics play as opposed to work. My politics play tries to simplify and make politics fun and approachable to all. I make fun stuff for people who want to get into politics, but struggle.
My tools? Print, ProMarkers, pastels, poster paint, pin badges. My posters and drawings are of a naïve style, informative but accessible. My politics play relies on the chaos of government, and currently that means brexit. It's constantly being rewritten, with the government not knowing how to handle it. Every government department passes the buck and this gets to the point where no one knows what’s going on. My politics play is humorous and helps to make people understand through colour, comedy and caricatures. It's turning an asinine comment of great importance said by a politician (cough, Trump, Boris) into a laughing fest. Because if you can't laugh at your own country's woes, you cry instead and that’s not right!
Every day, I visit the NewsNow website to find out the political stories I should be focusing on. I use stills of politician’s faces to caricaturise them. I also visit Facebook comment sites and cartoonist twitter pages. This aims to build a narrative in my head. Morten Morland is a particularly useful cartoonist to consult as I find that his work is engaging and easy for the majority to understand.
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In my beanbag piece, I explore politics in a home environment, a topic I feel will persist in my work. I wish to involve my audience in a fun way. The beanbag is the most informal and comfy seat there is! And of course, the ability to trump on Trump makes the work silly but also helps make the audience aware of the issues around the world. It is about creating conversations with the viewer and drawing people in. Politics seems scary but I want to make it fun and understandable.
Hogarth is one of my references that consolidates this idea for me. Gin Lane shows societal commentary of Britain using humour. In the same way, modern artists like Grayson Perry tempt us to look into news by presenting caricatures of people supporting Brexit and Europe. He does this in ‘Matching Pair’(2017).In a way I wish to be operating in between these artists, taking Hogarth’s dark humour, Grayson’s Brexit starkness and mix it with references to pop culture in my badgemaking to enable a wider ranging discussion about politics.
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I want you to look at my playing with politics as a way to becoming informed on current affairs. Politics is people and I think it’s important that we’re all included in it.
CURRICULUM VITAE- THE BORING BIT
Education
2019-2021
Newcastle University MFA Fine Art
Newcastle
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2016-2019
Kingston University BA Fine Art
London
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2015-2016
Kingston University Art & Design Foundation
London
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OPEN TO COLLABORATIONS. CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED
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PAST COLLABORATIONS
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2019
BCX Bentall Centre Exhibition A very Brexish Summer collaboration with Hend Ezat
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Arranging and coordinating a Fake News Broadcast with Hugo Altendorf, Emmanouela Megkistou and Caitlin Reilly
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Font design project with Harvey Wise producing Eliot Hand Regular and Lord Wise Regular
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Political portraiture 3D modelmaking project with Harvey Wise​
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2018
Designing political postcard fronts for Joe Moreno - Write to your MP mini project as part of the to_my_mp project.
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2016
Politics In Real Life Collaborative Performance with Kate O'Dell and Rosie Johnson
Selected Exhibitions
2020
Art on a Postcard Secret Summer Auction
The AllBright Mayfair
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2020
JellyPhishing
Star and Shadow Cinema, Ouseburn
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2020
Minute Books 31 Nights In Europe
The Peckham Pelican
2019
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2019
Leeds Art Gallery and South London Gallery
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2019
AVNX Kingston University Fine Art Degree Show
London
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2019
BCXhibition 2019
Bentall Centre, Kingston
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2019
Kingston University Making and Showing
London
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2018
Kingston University Design Market
London
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MY MEDIA MENTIONS
