The pervasive, perversive nature of advertising fascinated Alexis Hunter (1948-2014), who experimented with the rapid-fire power of images in her work created in the 1970s. Now, an exhibition at London’s Richard Saltoun Gallery, ‘Alexis Hunter: 10 Seconds’ – referring to the minimum time it takes for an advert to have an impact –delves into the photographic narratives she created in this period.
‘The Tate Britain exhibition, “Women in Revolt“[until 7 April 2024], opened just as I was navigating Hunter’s archive [last November],’ curator Natasha Hoare tells us. ‘The exhibition features a key work, The Marxist’s Wife (still does the housework) (1978/2005), which displays Hunter’s wit and intellectual engagement with second-wave feminism. Given that the [Tate Britain] exhibition is a far-reaching group show, with often only singular works to represent each artist, it seemed important to have a concurrent exhibition in London that provided a broader perspective on this seismic period of Hunter’s life and practice. This period also shows an evolution of her political consciousness expressed through visual means – from initial investigations into identity, perception, and sexual politics, through the photo narratives that so powerfully merge personal experience with psychoanalysis and feminist political and aesthetic theory.’
