When I met Jollyrei in London on 17 July this year, it did not occur to me that he would create such a remarkable souvenir of the occasion, showing Westminster's Red Lion public house, where we sat out on the pavement, enjoying our beer and chatting about crux art and literature, our minds filled with suitably appropriate images. He took the photograph which forms the background of this manipulation, and added the figures to illustrate what he describes as the scene, 'where London jaywalkers and other miscreants are crucified for their misdeeds.'
As crux artists who have both created numerous photo manipulations featuring her, naturally we discussed Alice. And so it is entirely appropriate that she should appear on the cross, right in the foreground of Jolly's picture. She was certainly in our thoughts that afternoon. She strains in an elevated pose on Makar's cross, now secured to a street bollard, politely ignored by the passing crowds.
The four computer-generated girls are shown literally facing the consequences of their actions, hanging in bright sunlight in the middle of the road. Here they are framed by two characteristic, modern, red, London Transport double-decker buses. Their peril is suitably increased by the danger of moving traffic. There can be no doubt about the location - behind one of the Union Jack flags, the street name is just visible, 'Parliament SW1'. The terracotta red lion, identifying the pub, fills the gable end above the attic window.
The vertical format evokes a sense of claustrophobia for the crucified women, who appear small, almost insignificant whilst visually dominated by the tall, city architecture. Alice is prominent in the foreground, but even she is literally overshadowed by the buildings, and the colour density of her figure hshe as been increased accordingly. The use of consistent scale and lighting is most effective, and I have cropped the detail image to demonstrate this.
This is contemporary urban crux, on the kind of scale normally associated with the likes of Maha Shiva, and Jollyrei is to be congratulated on the bold originality of his composition. It is altogether a fantastic souvenir of our meeting on that particular sunny afternoon - thank you Jolly!
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