This year I submitted an uncharacteristically large piece of artwork to the Royal Academy summer show.
I take consolation in knowing that I’m following in the foot steps of great masters like Courbet, Manet and Pissarro, whose works were also rejected for the Great Salon Exhibition in 1863 Paris.
As a result, my installation, along with many others that were refused, is to be shown at the Salon des Refusés at Candid Arts Trust, 3-5 Torrens Street, Islington, London EC1V 1NQ from 1-4 June.
‘Dead in the water’ – 5,083 Gingerbread Refugees (2016)
‘Dead in the water’ – 5,083 Gingerbread Refugees (2016)
The beginning of 2017 was punctuated by the announcement that 2016 had been the deadliest year on record for refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean, with most deaths occurring off the Greek and Italian coastlines.
I’m not a sculptor; I’m a photographer of 30 years. Even though I’ve photographed refugees and migrants in camps in northern France, I felt that my images captured only a small part of the story. In January 2017, I decided to make 5,083 tiny gingerbread men using a 2cm cookie cutter………..
The creation of the art piece
2016 : The deadliest year on record for refugee and migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. I’m not a sculpture. I’m a photographer of 30 years, but my photographs of the French migrant camps are not nearly as evocative as 5,083 tiny ginger bread refugees piled high on the family dining room table. Five Thousand Eighty Three (2016): 14 ginger bread men per day, surely a crime?
2016 : The deadliest year on record for refugee and migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. I’m not a sculpture. I’m a photographer of 30 years, but my photographs of the French migrant camps are not nearly as evocative as 5,083 tiny ginger bread refugees piled high on the family dining room table. Five Thousand Eighty Three (2016): 14 ginger bread men per day, surely a crime?
2016 : The deadliest year on record for refugee and migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. I’m not a sculpture. I’m a photographer of 30 years, but my photographs of the French migrant camps are not nearly as evocative as 5,083 tiny ginger bread refugees piled high on the family dining room table. Five Thousand Eighty Three (2016): 14 ginger bread men per day, surely a crime?
Using air drying terracotta clay, each man was created taking well over two weeks to complete. The final body count was a family affair and the reality hit home to us all as the ginger bread men, women and children piled ever higher on our dining room table.
2016 : The deadliest year on record for refugee and migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. I’m not a sculpture. I’m a photographer of 30 years, but my photographs of the French migrant camps are not nearly as evocative as 5,083 tiny ginger bread refugees piled high on the family dining room table. Five Thousand Eighty Three (2016): 14 ginger bread men per day, surely a crime?
2016 : The deadliest year on record for refugee and migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. I’m not a sculpture. I’m a photographer of 30 years, but my photographs of the French migrant camps are not nearly as evocative as 5,083 tiny ginger bread refugees piled high on the family dining room table. Five Thousand Eighty Three (2016): 14 ginger bread men per day, surely a crime?
Each tiny refugee was individually glued down to a plywood base. This exacting process took an additional two weeks, truly a labour of love!
The last few left to glue down!
The finished floor-based installation, measuring 6ft x 45″ entailed drawing around a very compliant teenage son!
Detail showing the 5,083 two centimetre high figures, each one representing the harrowing number of refugees that died in the Mediterranean in 2016.
Just a final thought…….on average, 14 people died every single day amounting to 5,083 individuals by year end. This year 2017, Jan 1 – May 3, the total so far – 1,096.
Candid Arts Trust
3-5 Torrens Street
Islington
London EC1V 1NQ
1-4 June 2017
Jacky Chapman 