Installation looks at invisible subjects and voices in city
An art installation paying homage to a Wolverhampton poet and political prisoners is set to feature as part of a touring national exhibition.
"Blank Verse Blanket Man" is a work by London-based artist Mandy El-Sayegh, who has covered the wall of a room in Wolverhampton University's School of Art with copies of newpapers and layers of accumulated ephemera.
The piece is a layered installation, with hospital green paint daubed on the wall and a mixture of sounds and voices echoing around the room, and will be a featured part of British Art Show 9.
The 36-year-old described what the piece was and how it came about.
She said: "It's based on a research project which, due to Covid, has spanned more than a year and a half, and the sources I'm looking at are quite disparate.
"The blank verse refers to the sound piece, a poem by Wolverhampton poet by Alfred Noyes about France Drake, while blanket man refers to the IRA and political prisoners who went on hunger strike.
"In particular, it will be the smeared cell of excrement of a prisoner who doesn't have a name, so it looks at the themes of the show for invisible subjects and voices and brings them together."
Ms El-Sayegh said her work involved mainly installation art, video, sound and painting, as well as using gestures and voices.
She also said she had picked the site at Wolverhampton University as it was the right sort of setting for the piece, and spoke about being part of British Art Show 9.
She said: "It was one of the site choices and I wanted an unconventional space and I found the lighting was really beautiful and good for painting, as well as quite simple and practical.
"It's a huge accolade to be working alongside my contemporaries as it's like being back at school again and I'm really fond of the curators and the ideas they're working with.
"It's been really nice to be in Wolverhampton as well, as everyone's really patient and friendly and it's just been a really nice building of trust."
"Blank Verse Blanket Man" will be part of British Art Show 9 between Saturday, January 22 and Sunday, April 10.
To find out more, visit britishartshow9.co.uk/whats-on/wolverhampton
