For someone with no formal education in photography, Rick Guest has had a storied career. He has shot portraits all around the world, has a list of blue chip clients that includes everyone from the English National Opera to Ferrari, and several of his images hang in the National Portrait Gallery.
But his new exhibition, Holy Reclics — which runs at art fair StART from October 9-13 — is more than a little different. During his years travelling the world, Rick has sought out and taken pictures of countless objects which have shaped the world around us, creating a list which blends history, literature, pop culture, sport and more.
The gun used to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the hat Napoleon abandoned at Waterloo, moon dust from Apollo 11, T. S. Eliot’s fountain pen, Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here master tape and Ernest Hemingway’s typewriter are among the pivotal items of history and culture documented.
Other subjects include Lord Byron’s gold-and-enamel dip pen, Sir Henry Moore’s chisels, Jane Austen’s writing table, Lucian Freud’s paints and Beethoven’s death mask.
Many of the images are on a musical theme, including various microphones used at Abbey Road by The Beatles and Kate Bush, and Sir Peter Blake’s hand-painted bass drumskin used on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in 1967.
Sporting-themed pictures include Lewis Hamilton's steering wheel, and the stopwatch used to clock Roger Bannister's four-minute mile in 1954. Naturally it'd be impossible to see all these objects in one place; this is the next thing, and it's a fascinating project.
The StART has moved on from the Saatchi Gallery, its home for the last 10 years, and in 2024 will be the debut event at the new Town Hall, King’s Cross, London WC1. The exhibition ‘Holy Relics’ runs from October 7–13 — see www.startkx.com for more details.
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