Inverness artist's political work to be showcased at prestigious exhibition
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An Inverness artist and lecturer will be the only Scot featured at a prestigious exhibition in Bristol.
A work by Frank To, who lectures in art at Inverness College UHI, has been accepted for the Royal West of England Academy annual Open Exhibition to be held in Bristol.
It is a reworking of a letter to the nation from Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging people to stay at home in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.
A bumblebee drawn with charcoal and gunpowder has been superimposed on the letter.
The work has been shortlisted for the academy’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicity Artist Prize.
The original letter was delivered to 30 million homes and Mr To said his reworking was part of a protest against the government’s approach to the artistic community during the pandemic.
“I view this piece as a way to combine my art with my social activism,” he explained.
“For me, these letters highlighted the incompetence of the government in its handling of the pandemic.
“This was important to me because it is about taking a stance against the government and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s statement about the need for artists to retrain.
“That statement highlights the hypocrisy of the government.
“These letters cost almost £6 million of taxpayers’ money and were a waste of money because most people chucked them straight in the bin – the information was already available online and no account was made for the visually impaired.
“My artwork recycles and repurposes these letters and, by doing so, makes a comment on the need for sustainability.”
Mr To, who splits his time between his Glasgow studio and the classrooms at Inverness College UHI, has long been interested in social activism.
“I’ve always been heavily involved in social activism as I am a supporter of the Free Tibet movement, Me Too Movement, the Hong Kong protests and the BLM movement,” he said.
“As such, I’m delighted to be exhibiting in Bristol, a hotspot of the pandemic where, in June, the city centre statue of slave Edward Colston was toppled and rolled down Anchor Road and pushed into Bristol Harbour; a protest which I fully endorsed.”
The RWA Annual Open Exhibition will open on January 2 with works available to view at https://bit.ly/3hjPKzR
