Rachel Maclean: Please Sir..., Rowing Projects

In the fantastically kitsch and decadently grotesque videos by Rachel Maclean, artist and actor, the rising Scottish star transforms herself into all manner of different characters using overlaid audio, costumes, prosthetic noses, fake teeth and heavy makeup.
Whilst the cinematography of these fantasy worlds is itself wonderful to behold; Maclean uses her creative and comedic touch to discuss heavier narratives like politics, society and identity. By adopting these outlandish characters Maclean constantly reinvents her own identity, following in the footsteps of photographer Cindy Sherman and video artist Mary Reid Kelly who completely alter themselves for the camera. Maclean explained, ‘I explore the moment at which unified, constructed identity throws its self up and tips into its opposite…when the signature white-smile of the teen pop sensation beings to hungrily gnaw at its own image’.
Saturated with high and low pop culture, Maclean’s videos feel like a drug-induced frenzy; where images from children’s television, Brave Heart and the Loch Ness Monster are paired with monologues from Britain’s Got Talent, Jeremy Kyle and The Apprentice.
Rowing Projects Exhibition
In a new exhibition at Rowing, London, Maclean showcases ‘Please Sir…’ (2014) which is based on Mark Twain’s, ‘The Prince and the Pauper’: the story of two boys living in Tudor London from very different social backgrounds who change clothes and lives for an afternoon. This split-screen video, like all of Maclean’s work, was entirely filmed in front of a green screen, adding to the escapist fantasy of her aesthetic. As well as the film itself Maclean will be exhibiting 2 new prints.
Don’t miss this escape from reality into the sumptuous dream-world of Rachel Maclean, one of the most exciting new contemporary artists this November.