CIRCA presents new work by Hetain Patel in collaboration with the Film London Jarman Award
Latest 1 Nov 2021News Story
This November, London’s Piccadilly Circus will play host to a new work commissioned by CIRCA and presented in collaboration with The Film London Jarman Award. Hetain Patel’s Baa’s House 11, showcasing a first-generation immigrant matriarch at work, will be broadcast on Piccadilly Circus Lights Screen at 20:21 each day throughout November 2021.
Film London Jarman Award Patron and winner of the 12th Film London Jarman Award (2019), Hetain Patel is a British artist of Indian descent who frequently works with family members, and has expressed the creative potential inherent in familial bonds and domestic settings. Patel’s work also embodies the spirit of Derek Jarman in the way it challenges perceptions, pushes creative practices forward and gives a voice to communities too often marginalised.
Baa’s House 11, a trompe-l'oeil commission, will be broadcast on London’s Piccadilly Lights screen, one of the largest outdoor screens in Europe. Trompe-l'oeil effects are used in big-screen advertising to create a dramatic spectacle of super-sized phenomena, which are given the appearance of inhabiting a three-dimensional space behind and beyond the screen. Co-opting this phenomenon, Patel shows his grandmother looking out from the screen and surveying the people watching at street level.
I am interested in a representation of my grandmother occupying this space, striking and powerful in her domestic action. The invitation to occupy such iconic spaces around the world is huge - physically, artistically and culturally. Working at this scale is both daunting and thrilling. I can’t wait to share this new commission with audiences in London and beyond.Hetain Patel
We are thrilled to collaborate with CIRCA on presenting Jarman patron Hetain Patel’s work in this way. This year, more than ever, it’s vital that we continue to protect and support artists to challenge perceptions, push creative practices and have their voices – and those of the communities they represent - heard. This was precisely the spirit of Derek Jarman, and Hetain’s commission brings this spirit to the centre of London life, and beyond.Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of Film London and the British Film Commission
In London, our diversity is our greatest strength. Our city is home to migrants from all over the world and this artwork will place traditionally underrepresented communities centre stage in the capital. Hetain Patel’s powerful and moving artwork at the Piccadilly Lights Screen is just one of a number of new exhibits and events in the capital this winter as we continue to showcase the best of our city and welcome visitors from across the UK and beyond. It is part of our ‘Let’s Do London’ campaign – the biggest domestic tourism campaign London has ever seen.Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture & Creative Industries
Baa’s House 11, can be viewed from 1 – 30 November 2021 at 20:21 each day throughout the month.
Hetain Patel has created a limited-edition #CIRCAECONOMY print, available to purchase on CIRCA.ART between 1-30 November. The funds generated from artist print sales drive the #CIRCAECONOMY - a circular model that creates life-changing opportunities for the art & culture community. In October 2021, Joseph Wilson was selected by Marina Abramović as the CIRCA x Dazed Class of 2021 winner, receiving a #CIRCAECONOMY cash prize of £30,000.
The 2021 Film London Jarman Award, of which Hetain Patel is a patron, will be announced on 23 November 2021.
