Talk #18

Magnus Quaife

Michael Pinchbeck, Reader in Theatre, interviews Magnus Quaife, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Manchester School of Art. Magnus' practice has been described as that of a conceptual artist interested in paint and as being connected through an approach that is like an archaeology. Earlier works considered the recirculation and re-imagination of images, materials and forms in the art world and beyond, and the emergence of myths as collective cultural or political memory was often the focus. From media images of the global uprisings of 1968 to the mountains in Cezanne's paintings and Spielberg's films, via phone masts pretending to be trees, Benjamin's grave, or Barthes' hobby paintings, these diverse subjects were connected by sense that nothing is quite what it seems. Magnus has exhibited internationally and his work is in private and public collections.