Image by Frank Creber

Good Government Bad Government

Thu 7 November 2019 - Fri 20 December 2019

Alison Richard Building

The title of the exhibition ‘Good Government Bad Government’ refers to the Lorenzetti murals in Siena. These frescoes embrace the city and the wider country and the links between them, they portray the vitality and humanity but also the huge problems faced by a city-state in 1338-39; the mural is a touchstone for this collaborative exhibition.

Johnson and Creber have spent many happy hours, working alongside their community, at the bottom of the telescope looking upwards at the machinery of government; making images of how this labyrinthine and ever-growing institution works in practice in some of the most challenging communities in this country. They have found an affinity in each other’s work, based on a deep commitment to observe and narrate personal chronicles about the social and physical landscape of their neighbourhoods, interweaving themes of society, politics, with everyday scenes.

There are images about mistrust; people in the community feel as if no one is in control of the beast any more, and that many beloved treasures are at risk, whether that be a local park being lost to a developer, or the NHS being lost to the private sector. There are positive stories about how individuals make a community; how family life, local history, friendship and tolerance are developing a new community spirit.

Both artists work in a contemporary narrative style that is informed by murals and the Western European painting tradition.

Cost: free