The cold wet shelterless evening streets of Newcastle's Quayside; the foul and frowsy dens, where vice is closely packed and lacks the room to turn; the haunts of abandon and liver disease; the shabby rags that scarcely hold together upon the revelers; where are the attractions of these things? Why, Lazarides of course, particularly when playing host to the first solo show of work from Miss Candice Tripp, 'Home is where the telly is'.
Having been born a man, 23 year old international minger, spoon designer and self-taught artist Candice left her native South Africa in 2004 to settle (reinvented) in Newcastle upon Tyne. At the age of 10 she completed her first project: a lunar refugee centre constructed entirely of wattle and daub. The piece, entitled 'Mommy, my brain hurts', won her international acclaim, though she withdrew entirely from the art scene for five years after the death of Diana, Princess of Hearts. Her early talent was spotted by Rolf Harris and cultivated in a home for orphaned wolves. Her images seek to capture the unity in ideologies between Star Trek's Spock and the modern musical philosopher, Enya. Thanks in no small part to this, Candice served 3 years in jail as a result of her groundbreaking installation, “'Dead kids'. That's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing really at all like the truth.
Thanks to all who came down to the preview and turned it into a party, and thanks in particular to those who chose to actually wear the masks on their faces that Candice had created, unlike the bald blokes who, naturally, wore them on on top of their heads.
'Home is where the telly is' runs, like a ginger stepchild in trouble, until January 31st.
