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Stevie Ronnie: Self Portrait as Someone Else

Stevie Ronnie: Self Portrait as Someone Else
Library Shelf Location 34a.RONN
Publication Date May 2017
Description

For the past few months I have had the pleasure of being the Max Reinhardt Literary Award (MRLA) writer in residence at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. This book contains a selection of the poems I was commissioned to write in response to the works in That’s Not Me, Canadian artist Rodney Graham’s major retrospective exhibition in the Level 3 and 4 galleries.

The purpose of the MRLA is to explore the connection between literacy and visual art. Graham’s work, thick with literary reference and peppered with the act of reading, has proved to be a powerful muse. Recently I have been experimenting with reading as a creative act and I have followed this idea through into the cover artwork for this book, which is a visual response to Graham’s plagiarised section (originally from William Beckford) in his book VATHEK. Each mark on the cover represents a letter in that passage of text and each column of colour represents one of the ve palaces described therein. Further brief notes on the poems and their origins can be found at the bottom of each page.

I have also produced a sound collage with year 7 students from Ashington’s Northumberland Church of England Academy (available on Level 4) and an artist’s book that combines my writing and visual experiments in creative reading with Braille (available on Levels 3 and 4 and via the archive). The inclusion of Braille is inspired by Jessica, an enthusiastic student of art who happens to be blind.

My hope is that this book will help you to find new ways into Rodney Graham’s gripping and multi-layered work. I also hope that the poems can nd their own way of expressing the emotions this experience has stirred in me.

Stevie Ronnie

ISBN 9781903655405
Quantity 1
Author Stevie Ronnie
Formats PDF File, A5 booklet
Publisher BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Related Artist Rodney Graham
Categories Poetry/Verse, BALTIC Publications (Books)
Related Event Rodney Graham: That's Not Me (17 March – 11 June 2017)
Related Gallery BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Language English

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