Guido Messer: The Claques

For his composition The Claques, Guido Messer has mounted four identical male busts on graceful pedestals. But one figure stands out from this otherwise uniform group because it is has been coloured signal red. A case perhaps of marking the first among equals? The eyes of the clapping cheerleaders are closed, prompting the question: who or what is being applauded “unseen” by a collective mass? Here the artist presents a broad critique of authority, entitlement, and so-called democracy.