Category: Art
Pete McKee has invited Horace Panter to exhibit at his gallery A Month of Sundays in Sheffield. Given that a lot of his new work, especially the cassette series, plays on nostalgia and memory, he came up with the title Nostalgia (ain't what it used to be). History moves forward!
Born in Croydon in 1953, Horace got his accrediation in Fine Art from Coventry's Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University) in 1975. It was whilst there that he met up with Jerry Dammers and they formed The Specials, a defining band on the British music scene. However, he never dropped his art roots, using his time on tour to visit galleries/exhibitions throughout the UK, Europe and America. Before embarking on a career as a professional artist in 2008, he spent 10 years as Head of Art in a secondary school. He says that teaching art made him reevaluate his own relationship to art and when The Specials reformed in that year he found he had the time to explore his art practice.
His work is a juxtaposition between religious/political iconography and Pop Art. While exploring the ideas of elevation in both iconography and Pop Art, his aim is to question the narrative of the iconic subject; he chooses to portray objects/places/people that are considered ordinary or mundane and to elevate their status to icon, thereby realising the Pop Art trope of 'elevating the mundane' (Andy Warhol). The cassette paintings are particularly evocative of time and place; as well as having a strong historical context, they are imbued with meaning in terms of analogue recording studios and the humble 'demo-tape'. His work is full of colour and vitality and is as much about what is left out; the composition is often minimal so that the focus is on the central subject, like an icon.
This exhibition will feature some of the Cassette Series as well as some colourful collages which celebrate his relationship to music and his own musical icons. There will also be a selection of his very latest series on Americana. Horace says “I have to thank the highly efficient and very friendly McKee Organisation (PLC) for giving me the opportunity to show my work to the good people of Sheffield … can't wait!” Pete McKee says: “To have Horace Panter, one of my heroes, exhibit at my gallery is a massive honour. His culturally astute paintings have a great resonance with anyone who, like me, was brought up to love music.”
Opening times: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-5pm