Exhibition - Jamie Holman - 24 Hands

‘Public Order Act : Where 12 or more persons who are present together use or threaten unlawful violence for a common purpose; and the conduct of them (taken together) is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety, each of the persons using unlawful violence for the common purpose is guilty of riot.’

THE SECOND ACT presents a solo exhibition of new paintings, ceramics, textiles, audio and moving image works by Jamie Holman, expressing the current and historic expression of governance and state violence across industry, working class people and protests.

Holmans ‘Destriers’ series locates governance and state violence in both public and domestic spaces, exploring working class protest, crowd theory and police control strategies, as part of an English heritage that first appears in the Bayeux Tapestry.

Holman identifies subjugation by horseback as a key visual element of the tapestry, and as the beginning of an unbroken chronology of equestrian governance, that persists to this day.

The pieces in the exhibition are narrated by Holman’s audio artwork; ‘A Century of Industrial Violence.’ This oral performance by English actor, Christopher Eccleston, proposes a relentless history of uprisings that begin with the formation of the Labour Party in 1900, and conclude with the anti-capitalist protests of 2000 and the global anxiety of the ‘millennium bug.’ This period also signifies what Holman refers to as a ‘crisis of identity’ in working class communities, as industry declined and whole areas of the country are laid waste. Holman is clear about the explanation, but is interested in the impact, both politically and socially.

Special Preview Event: 14th March 2024, 5.30pm to 8.30pm

Then runs from 15th March - 11th April 2024, 111am to 4pm, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday 

OR by Appointment made via 07584825281 

Address: The Second Act, 29 Sunbury Workshops, Swanfield St, London, E2 7LF