The Photographic Performance was created to feature the works of artist with completed bodies of work and a strong narrative. John Hesketh’s exhibition “Los Angeles (revisited)“ is the first of four performances to be exhibited during Act II 2024.  John’s exhibition is discussed in this GalleryTalk.

Artist Statement

In 1992, Los Angeles was aflame with riots and insurrection after the verdicts of Rodney King’s beating. I was among many artists who created a call for healing in the wake of the conflict. In my original project, Los Angeles (1992-2007), I collaborated with 101 members of my community to create angels in a darkened studio. Each subject stood for nearly an hour while I used strobes, flashlights, and filters to mark light across their bodies and onto a stage of bedsheets and cardboard wings. These large angels were ablaze with vibrant colors and forged in the tumult. They stood as guardians, calling for peace and understanding.

It is painful to stand in one position for nearly an hour. This was my subjects’ intimate and spiritual sacrifice. After arranging the personal items and clothing that they brought for their angel, I would say, “Take a comfortable stance, relax and breath normally. Your body will settle and wilt. I’m here to interpret that. And I’ll take care of you.” Many of my subjects recalled the experience as a meditative inward journey at the center of lights flashing, swirling, and beaming into ethereal space. Together in the dark, with their energy and my light, we created their angels.

Los Angeles (revisited), (2024) includes the same angels from the past, reissued in response to the same brutal authority and political violence that is still with us today. I have reinterpreted these guardians as icons, illuminated with gold and silver leafing to reflect their scared status. Luminously floating on collection pins, their likeness seems fragile, but their strength was proven in the original sacrifice. Their spiritual nature is a prayer for hope and peace to prevail, all these years later.

John Hesketh, 2024

Bio

John Hesketh (b.1955) is an artist based in Anaheim, California. Interested in performative narrative, his work explores the psychodrama of identity as well as lost in family and community.  John uses multiple and extended exposures, often working in front of the camera to perform with light. Each work is a constructed tableau to explore the unconscious and rummage through the nature of chance.

John has taught photography at Orange Coast College for 25 years and more recently at Santa Monica College. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. His art is found in many public and private collections including Principal Financial (Des Moines, IA), the California Museum of Photography at UC Riverside, Maison Europeenne de la Photographie (Ville de Paris), and the Biblietheque Nationale de France.

Directors’ Statement

We first met John and this body of work as reviewers for The Los Angeles Center For Photography. We are honored and very glad that he chose to enter The Photographic Performance call for entry.

When we first saw the work, the images appeared to me like contemporary, prismatic holy cards or a sanctified tarot. They seemed avenging angels. Seeing them again brought the Los Lobos song “The Tears of God” to mind.

We fight back tears in times of trouble and joy. They can leave us momentarily vulnerable. Experiencing the tears of others can cause us to shed some of our own. Our tears are a recognition, an answer, and a release in response to matters of the heart.

Whether avenging angels or tears, John’s images are a gift. Thank you John.

Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully
September, 2024

website: johnhesketh.photography.com
instagram:  @jchesketh

link to online exhibition

link to exhibition catalogue