Introduction

Classy? Art structures for the masses

In my work I explore themes of class and inequality. Art is trapped in a middle-class bubble (O'Brien et al, 2018). I’m interested in attempts to make it more accessible and authentic to those from working class backgrounds.

90% - workers in creative industries required to work for free at some point in their career

76% - people working in the arts from managerial or professional class backgrounds

18.2% - workers in the music, performing and visual arts who are working class

See for example:

O'Brien, D., Brook, O., & Taylor, M. (2018). Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries. http://createlondon.org/event/panic-paper/

Reidy, T. (2018) ‘Is studying the arts the preserve of the middle classes?’, The Guardian, 31 August.

I like to explore through my painting tower blocks and estates created from utopian visions by middle class architects who aimed to improve the living conditions of the working classes in the post-War years through functional and fashionable use of concrete structures.

I want to challenge the assumptions that those living in estates today are unable to appreciate the abstract depictions of the buildings, but also highlight continuing class tensions.

Some places like the Barbican have become middle class enclaves. There are also problems with contemporary tower block buildings replacing older structures which provide a mixed model: expensive apartments for private hire mixed at the front with social housing for poorer people hidden at the back.

Introduction

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