David Jacques

David Jacques’ practice engages with the subjectof history, its’ narrative interpretations and the interplay between factual and fictional modes of representation. His interest in history, in expanding or breaking down the subject often results in the exploration of forgotten, marginalised and socially / politically disruptive sources.

Jacques describes his approach as ‘relating to the popular, the epic and complex’, affecting an array of themes that he has revisited over a 20 year period. During this time he has worked and exhibited in Britain, Mexico, USA, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

The 2008 project Por Convención Ferrer emerged from the footnotes of a little known essay, which touched on the visit to Liverpool around 1908 by Spanish anarchist and renowned educationalist Francisco Ferrer. The following year Ferrer was executed after being implicated in the ‘Semana Trágica’ uprising in Barcelona. Jacques took these events and posited a template for a series of fictional conferences staged between 1910-18 in memory of Ferrer. The conferences would see 27 presentations in total, on a variety of factual subjects (including scientific, cultural and political issues from the mid 1800’s to present day) all encountered through the delegates undertaking some form of time-travel.

North Canada – English Electric (2009-10) began as a photo essay recording post-industrial landscapes, which evolved with a spoken word ‘stream of consciousness’ narrative into an investigation of ‘3D crazes’, an exposé of corporate malpractices and a meditation on social memory and the loss of identity. Visitors are encouraged to listen to the audio piece whilst looking through an archive of photographs using a stereoscopic viewer.

Biography

Winner of the 2010 Liverpool Art Prize, Jacques works in a variety of media including painting, film, photography and text. His practice has encompassed studio-based work, Public Art projects and socially engaged programmes. He was included in EAST International 09 and has exhibited at the Temple Bar Gallery Dublin, Lichtof Der VHS Cologne, the Trafo Gallery Budapest and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.