HEAD HUNTER - COMING SOON

Masks are fascinating. They have been made and worn for centuries by many cultures and almost always for the purpose as a desire for individuals to break out of the human constriction and morph into another form in order to experience a chosen existential adventure. But in so far as we are social beings who live in a community of similar individuals with whom we are in continuous and direct competition, often unconsciously, primitive beings also feel the urgent need to be different, to impress, to bewilder and to instil fear, so that they may make themselves revered and respected. Some experts theorise that the practice of HEAD HUNTING stemmed from the belief that the head contained “soul matter” or life force, which could be harnessed through its capture. This exhibition titled- HEAD HUNTER is an examination into what it means to be a member of a society that collects things, whether those things are artworks, football cards, shoes, followers on Instagram or in this particularly literal sense, the heads of fallen heroes and dead enemies as trophies.

- Anthony Lister 2020