Anthea Hamilton (1978 – )

Anthea Hamilton (born London; 1978) studied at Wimbledon College of Arts, University of Arts London, Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett University) and the Royal College of Art. Hamilton’s sculptural assemblages often feature oversized cut-outs of eclectic photographic images, from pasta to pop-cultural icons. She makes prop-like sculptural forms that draw attention to their own artifice. She says: ‘the skill in my work is more about play, being deft in spotting visual associations of material rather than manipulating them through craft, thinking about the legacy of surrealism’s connection to everyday objects’[1] and ‘asking people to remember that experiencing the world is very strange[2]’.

Leg Chair (Sorry I’m Late), one of a series of 10 chairs that the artist began in 2009, is formed of a simple stand and seat flanked by suggestively splayed Perspex cut-outs of the artist’s own flexed legs. The Leg Chairs not only relate to her own body but also raise questions regarding the role of the female body within art history and popular culture including Allen Jones's notorious sculptures depicting semi-clad women doubling as furniture and the nude Christine Keeler hiding behind a chair back. The phrase Sorry I’m Late was also the title of Hamilton’s 2012 exhibition at Firstsite, Colchester and says she choose the phrase because ‘if you apologise too many times it just kind of evaporates, or seems insincere’[3]. Here the words flow provocatively in mirror image down the Perspex legs and we are left questioning who is apologising? 

[1] Saatchi Gallery, http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/anthea_hamilton_resources.htm

[2] Interview with Anthea Hamilton Sorry I’m Late, Firstsite, 2012, https://vimeo.com/50823614

[3] Ibid.