David Raymond Conroy, Because Fuck You, 2015 Wide Format Print 85 x 120cm
In the wake of rampant, market-led nonsense, art is rekindling its fascination with poetry. Recently, galleries such as BHQFU in New York, David Roberts Foundation in London and SALTS in Basel have been throwing poetry events, and art platforms such as Rhizome and 11:11 have been hosting online projects dedicated to verse. Part of the reason for this increase of interest in poesie is due to the revival of performance art as well as the influence of the internet. The web is not only making it easier for poets to distribute their work, but also changing they way we use words and altering poetry’s material – our language. David Raymond Conroy is one of the five poets the art world is listening to.
Taken from Sleek 47
Poetry doesn’t always appear in contemporary art in obvious ways. Although often presented as prose, British poet David Raymond Conroy’s verse began life as spoken word presentations. “I wanted to speak around my work without talking directly about it,” he says.
Having studied fine art and print making, Conroy is another example of an artist turning to verse and incorporating it into his practice. “Broadway flats (social actors)”, exhibited as part of a group show at Shoreditch’s Seventeen gallery earlier this year, featured sculptures made from wooden frames, metallic surfaces and large print outs of his poems. And although these mixed media objects are an important part of what Conroy does as an artist, it is also possible to engage with his work on the level of literary aesthetics too.
Frequently referencing stand-up comedy, Conroy’s writing is similar to the emotional and sometimes detached tone of David Foster Wallace and other writers from the loose-knit New Sincerity and alt-lit movements, who broadly rejected postmodernism’s infatuation with irony in favour of a return to traditional concepts such as truth and authenticity.
“I want to make things that feel true. I like sad things and hateful things and angry things, as they just stick with me more than happy things,” says Conroy. “I mean, what do you want to read about – beautiful people having a lovely time? I can’t think of anything worse.”
Another aspect to Conroy’s work is an interest in our relationship with technology. “Writing seems to have become the primary interface between people,” he notes. Indeed, his use of playful rhythm and cadence, song references and non-standard grammar also imply the kinds of informal dialogues that people conduct on the internet and elsewhere.
“Nowadays we seem unconcerned by the rules of language,” he says. “Improper punctuation, misspelling and the addition of various quirks have become very normal when it comes to online exchanges, and it has been interesting to see how these things have started to emerge in traditional ‘analogue’ writing. Nonetheless, the writing in which I am immersed in online is super condensed, so as to be as snappy and attractive and ‘click-bait-y’ as possible.”
Text: Francesca Gavin
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