Henry Hussey ‘Change’
duel screen video (10.55) . click here to watch film


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Henry Hussey is a British artist born in London in 1990 where he still resides. “I keep making the same mistakes” - is the pivotal line in ‘Change’, this two-channel, semi-autobiographical short film. Hussey is a man animated and sustained by an almost megalomaniacal conviction of the universal nature of his own personal struggle. Is humanity doomed to repeat its mistakes? He invites us to take that possibility seriously by looking at the world through the lens of ‘archetypes’ – the Jungian hypothesis that all humans share a collective unconscious whose building blocks can only be inferred indirectly from our stories, art, myths, religions, and dreams. It is never totally clear whether, ultimately, Hussey is an optimist or a pessimist. On the one hand, his wading through the detritus of half-remembered myths, inherited legends and fragments of faded grandeur seems to be a suggestion that Enlightenment is, at best, a work in progress. Jung said “Man’s task is…to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious. […] As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.” And that is also the thing about mistakes – if you throw them on the fire they’ll generate light for you.

Hussey's multimedia artworks, shifting from textile, glass, bronze, monoprint and video, reveal a deep concern with control and chaos and the sweet spot in between these two distinctive states. His works are typically emotionally raw, created primarily through paradoxically laboured and intricate mediums. He explores both personal, national and universal identity, often in response to aggravating relationships and events. The dramatic and intense impression created by his works is heightened by a vibrant and bold colour palette, which is used to both reinforce its narrative as well as underline the labour-intensive aspect of his practice. The resultant artworks have a commanding presence, both reverential and awe-inspiring. Hussey studied Textiles at Chelsea College of Art before completing an MA in Textiles at the Royal College of Art. His work is widely respected and has been exhibited in notable exhibitions including The Textiel Biennale 2017 at Museum Rijswijk in the Hague, a solo presentation at Art Central in Hong Kong, the Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2014 at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Royal Academy London and Volta New York and the Young Talent Contemporary Prize at the Ingram Collection in 2016. Hussey has participated in residencies at La Vallonea, Tuscany, Italy in 2018 and will participate in a residency at Palazzo Monti, Milan in 2020. His work is held in collections worldwide including Simmons & Simmons, Hogan Lovells, The Groucho Club and Soho House.