Ann-Marie LeQuesne’s 'After the Fact' at the UArts Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery

Saturday, 21 October 2006 10:22

PHILADELPHIA, PA – London-based artist Ann-Marie LeQuesne will present After the Fact at the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery of The University of the Arts October 24 through November 22, 2006.  After the Fact involves the re-enactment of a small photograph supposedly taken at the execution of the Mexican Emperor Maximilian in 1867.  The photo was the basis of a folk painting in the Arensburg Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Manet’s series of eponymous canvases (the subject of a concurrent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art).

In addition to the Maximilian photo, LeQuesne has re-created and photographed moments in history throughout her career, including photos taken on Ernest Shackleton’s epic Trans-Antarctic expedition from 1914-16.

Every year since 1997, LeQuesne has gathered various participants to for what has become The Annual Group Photograph (www.theannualgroupphotograph.com).  Shoot locales have included an Ikea in Edmonton, Alberta, the Natural History Museum in London and the home stadium of Arsenal FC in North London.  The shoot has gathered a core of faithful participants – from nine days to 83 years – as well those attracted by the particular venue.

“My work is social and collaborative. Working with members of the public, I stage events that involve elements of tableau-vivant, ritualized behavior and re-enactment,” said LeQuesne, who uses the performative aspect of photography to re-establish rituals and deconstruct their truths.  “I document these events with photographs and/or video.  The resulting imagery may record misunderstanding and the unexpected.  Projects are often site specific and ongoing.”

LeQuesne’s works are in the collections of Tate Gallery; Amos Anderson Museum, Helsinki; Minnesota Museum of Art, Minneapolis; Chase Manhattan Bank; Rank Xerox; Sheffield City Art Gallery; Southampton Art Gallery; Sussex University; and Liverpool University. She has shown in exhibitions in Amsterdam, Chicago, London, Helsinki, Melbourne and Seoul and teaches at London’s Royal College of Art.

The Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery (www.uarts.edu/events/rwg/index.cfm) is free and open to the public.  After the Fact has received funding from Arts Council England, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Research and Development Fund of the Royal College of Art.