JC Candanedo is a trustee of the arts charity I work for, an artist and photographer who has also agreed to participate in my research project. He sent me an invite to a private view of a group exhibition at the RSA, titled ‘No Borders’. Since I couldn’t make it to the last show he invited me to, I was super excited when I realised I would be in London (filming my new music video) on the day of the Private View.
I have never been to the RSA before – and omg it is fancy. Everything is so plush and fancy, but it also seemed kind of sanitised. It’s definitely not an institution I would feel comfortable on – but I can see why it appeals to some. I was amused by the audience attending the event, half of whom seemed to be wearing very suave, monochrome outfits with RP accents – the other half were the punk/hippy types with multi-coloured hair, piercings, ripped clothes and dreadlocks (more like me!) - it was an odd mix!
The ‘No Borders’ exhibition was in “the Vaults” in the basement of the building – it was a supercool space comprised of brick alcoves, which meant JC had a private booth all to himself. His work is incredible, he’s been exploring his South-American) identity (he is half Panamanian) creating textiles work using cyanotype printing and dyes made from vegetables.
He also created a video/performance work which was displayed on a screen.
I enjoyed the other work – which was all photography. Especially the Rollie D. Holley but that may have been because I understood the British context of his photography better than the other photographers.
Comments