Jai Redman

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Jai Redman (born 1971)[1] is a British artist who uses sculpture, painting, digital illustration and socially engaged public art. His work forms an "emotional and often satirical commentary on our dislocation from politics and the planet."[2] He was responsible for This is Camp X-Ray in 2003, a reconstruction of an American detention facility;[3] and had a retrospective exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery in 2016/17.[2] His work is held in the collections of Manchester Art Gallery[4] and the University of Salford.[1]

Life and work[edit]

Redman was born in Southampton[5] and studied fine art at university in Reading. He took part in direct action against road building in the 1990s, first at Twyford Down, then at Jesmond Dene, Solsbury Hill, the M11 link road and the Newbury bypass.[5][6]

His work forms an "emotional and often satirical commentary on our dislocation from politics and the planet."[2]

Redman was creative director of Ultimate Holding Company (UHC), an arts collective in Manchester where he was responsible for This is Camp X-Ray in 2003 and, with Joseph Richardson, the ExtInked project in 2009.

This is Camp X-Ray was a working replica of part of the Camp X-Ray American detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, on waste land in Hulme, Manchester. 9 volunteers—one for each of the 9 British prisoners believed to be detained at the camp—were "locked up" for 9 days and nights, under 24-hour surveillance. They were fed an unvarying diet of porridge, vegetable soup, beans and rice, and interrogated in sessions that were broadcast live on local radio.[3][7][8]

ExtInked was a project to highlight the plight of endangered species in the UK. For Charles Darwin's bicentennial, Redman drew 100 endangered plants, animals, and fungi, each of which was listed as a priority on the UK's Biodiversity Action Plan—the government's conservation effort founded in response to the international Convention on Biological Diversity treaty. 100 people volunteered to have the drawings tattooed upon themselves, which took three tattoo artists four days to complete. All the volunteers were designated 'ambassadors' for their particular species, so as to create a collective of people who would share ideas about conservation. Portraits were taken of each participant with a 120-year-old view camera.[9][10][11]

Engels' Beard is a public artwork created by Redman with Ian Brownbill at the University of Salford Peel Park campus, Greater Manchester, in 2016. The sculpture depicts the head of Friedrich Engels, with a climbing wall among the beard at the front, stairs to the rear and a viewing platform at the top. An excerpt from the poem "Thinker" by Jackie Kay is also included.[12][13] Redman has said "Engels' Beard is not a monument; rather it is a metaphor for the effort and struggle needed to pull ourselves out of ignorance and a direct representation of how we all 'stand on the shoulder of giants'."[14]

Jai Redman: Paradise Lost, a retrospective at Manchester Art Gallery in 2016/17, included oil paintings and watercolours.[2]

Redman and his husband later moved from Manchester to Burnley where he set up and runs a café, One Sixty, which opened in March 2018.[15][16] Also in 2018, he stood as a Green Party candidate in the Burnley Borough Council election.[17]

Publications[edit]

  • Dongas Sketchbook: the Struggle for Twyford Down. Stroud: Gaia, 2021. Edited by James Brady. ISBN 9780993219283. Edition of 300 copies.[18]

Exhibitions, etc[edit]

Solo exhibitions and installations[edit]

Group exhibitions[edit]

Public artworks[edit]

Collections[edit]

Redman's work is held in the following permanent collections:

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Jai Redman, Engels' Beard". University of Salford Art Collection. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Jai Redman: Paradise Lost". Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  3. ^ a b Ward, David (11 October 2003). "Guantanamo Bay prison recreated as northern art". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  4. ^ a b Manchester Art Gallery Collection Development Policy 2021-2024. Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  5. ^ a b Vallely, Paul (22 April 1997). "The reluctant radicals". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  6. ^ Aslet, Clive (18 January 1996). "The Country Life Interview: Jai: Member of the Newbury Bypass Movement". Country Life: 50–51. As a respected veteran of Twyford Down and the M11 demonstrations, Jai is now in hot demand to teach tactics to the cohorts of Newbury's newcomers.
  7. ^ "Camp X-Ray comes to Manchester". BBC News. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  8. ^ "Film highlights Guantanamo disgrace". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  9. ^ "'My beautiful rare fungus tattoo'". BBC News. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  10. ^ Warwick, Hugh (27 November 2009). "The ExtInked project: Weird, wonderful and unique – just like those endangered species". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  11. ^ Glendinning, Amy (17 December 2009). "No monkeys on our backs". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  12. ^ Abbit, Beth (23 September 2016). "Communist thinker turned into a giant fibreglass climbing wall". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  13. ^ "Friedrich Engels' beard inspires climbing sculpture in Salford". BBC News. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  14. ^ "Public Sculpture". University of Salford Art Collection. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  15. ^ "More than a cafe- why One Sixty is a place for creatives, artists and students". burnley.social. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  16. ^ "Review: effortlessly cool ONE SIXTY brings veggie cafe culture to Burnley". Burnley Express. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  17. ^ "History made in Burnley as first Green Party councillor elected". Burnley Express. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  18. ^ "Dongas Sketchbook". Cornerhouse. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  19. ^ "Eerie reality of X-Ray's cousin". BBC News. 12 October 2003. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  20. ^ "Exhibitionist: The week's art shows in pictures". The Guardian. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  21. ^ Walters, Sarah (12 May 2016). "Want to throw a dart at a work of art? Step right up..." Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  22. ^ "Hidden Revealed". Towneley. Retrieved 2022-05-15.

External links[edit]

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