Outdoors
by Beau
Exhibition runs: 15th November - 23rd December 2017 & 8th - 20th January 2018
Open daily: 12pm - 6pm (Sun 1pm - 4pm)
Early in 2017, ten exterior doors were hung in locations across the streets of Bristol. They were left to organically gather their own identities from the life happening around them.
Nine months later and the doors no longer reside in their urban dwellings. Instead they lie awaiting the first of many residencies of a very different nature; in galleries across the country.
The project was orchestrated by conceptual artist, Beau.
When Beau set off hanging his doors around Bristol, he had little idea what was to be made of them. And this was exactly the point of the project, which he aptly named ‘Outdoors’.
“I wanted to challenge our perceptions of beauty and worth. Outdoors shows how we interact with the world around us. The doors were hung in plain view on city streets and were largely ignored by passers-by. Street culture adopted some of the sites, but others were completely neglected from the limelight.
The artwork screams of symbolism for the critical situation of poverty and homelessness found in the UK’s cities today. Cuts to housing, mental health and social services are driving more and more people into critical situations.
There are twice as many people living on the streets in Bristol than there was this time five years ago. This is happening right around us, yet we walk on past.”
Beau
The doors have now been framed and are on display from 15 December at 44AD in Bath.
In 2018, they will be exhibited around the country before being auctioned off, with 100% of profits being donated to charities supporting people in critical need in the South West.
Beau’s thought-provoking work has caught the attention of his peers in the art world.
Ralph Steadman, best known for his accompanying work to Hunter S. Thompson’s ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, said, “I love the idea and am fascinated to see what transpires.”
