Jeffrey Charles Henry Peacock

Jeffrey Charles Henry Peacock is the sole
collective practice of Dave Smith (b. 1972, based in
Derbyshire) and Thom Winterburn (b. 1970, based
in London).

Scabs revolves around a reproduction of Courbet’s 1849 painting of the Stonebreakers. The reproduction consists of two figures, just under life-size, on a dirt road set against a dark hillside. A limestone crag (reminiscent of Malham Cove, Yorkshire) juts out from the forested hillside. The sun is bright and it appears hot. The older man is bent on one knee that is protected by a straw bundle and raises his hammer to break a rock. The younger man is carrying a wicker hod filled with the smaller finished broken rocks. We assume this stone aggregate is used as a filling and drainage material for the road. From the full-size reproduction we can see that the clothes of the figures have been worked with particular attention, more so than the flesh that they cover. The trousers of the older man appear stiff. It’s hard to know whether it is the quality and weight of the material, rather than the ground-in dirt and sweat like the unwashed denims of a Hells Angel. The clothing also has the appearance of a stone carved low relief. Both of the figures faces are obscured; one by the shade of his hat, the other by his turning to a lost profile. Clogs and shoes predominate the foreground. With this the artists ask “Is this a good enough description of our reproduction?” Exhibited alongside the Courbet reproduction investigation are a series of posters containing images and statements. Each declaration airs cynicisms and predicaments, and finally surrenders to the ritual of exhibiting in order to take it to task.

Jeffrey Charles Henry Peacock is the sole collective practice of Dave Smith (based in Holbrook, Derbyshire) and Thom Winterburn (based in London). JCHP Have exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Swiss Institute, New York USA; Free Museum of Dallas, Texas USA; Lanchester Gallery Projects, Coventry UK. Their book “Critical Décor: What Works…” will be distributed through Lanchester Gallery Projects and Banner Repeater, London UK from May 2014.

(Text: EVA 2014, AGITATIONISM, catalogue)