
Join Andrew Holmes for the talk 'Follow Me to Pie Land,' as he discusses his current exhibition ROAD WORK. The show brings together sixteen large-scale prints from a series of 1000 polaroid photographs that he took in 1980s Los Angeles. The song 'Stack o' Bricks', performed by Holmes' band Alabama Chrome, will be heard in recorded form for the first time.
'I don’t like to be lectured. I like to be told stories and to listen to songs. I like Texas country, Townes Van Zandt, Ray Wylie Hubbard. I like repetition.'
James Brown interviewed the guitar player Jimmy Nolen for his new band,
'Can you play an E ninth chord?'
'Yes, of course', came the reply.
'But can you play an E ninth chord all night?'
David Greene says Andrew Holmes is a monk, but a monk in a car. He is assembling his equivalent of The Canterbury Tales. He is doing it in the form of images and messages. The messages are song lyrics, themselves the equivalents of Polaroids, brief snatches of glimpsed graphics on the sides of trailers, advertising on the car radio, the voice giving directions on Google maps, announcements over the PA and overheard conversations in truck stops.
The show, an entertainment, will consist of stories, images and music, with the premiere of 'Stack o’ Bricks', by the band Alabama Chrome with Andrea Clarke.
Take the 405, Follow me to Pie Land,
Ripon, take the five, Travel Stop Colony Road,
Take the shade, Get out damn slowly,
Put on straw Stetson, no breeze, ninety degrees,
South West Motor Freight, Tri State Motor Transit,
Refrigerated, World Wide Moving Arrowhead,
Any comments please call, Young Blood Truck Lines Scheduled,
Great Dane Bama Pies, Wanted Moving Systems.
Extract from 'Stack o’ Bricks' by Alabama Chrome.
Andrew Holmes (b 1947) studied at the AA and was for many years an innovative and inspiring Diploma Programme unit master there. He is an internationally recognised photorealist artist who has made a lifelong contribution to contemporary art. In addition, his work encompasses printmaking, photography, film, radio and design. He is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University. He was formerly Guest Professor at the Technische Universitaet, Berlin, and a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute. He lives and works in London.
Ramp access to the AA Lecture Hall is available on request using the intercom at the entrance to 36 Bedford Square, and we have an accessible toilet on site. Please get in touch to let us know of any access requirements that you might have and how we can best accommodate these. If you are unable to attend physically but would like to participate in the event remotely please email publicprogramme@aaschool.ac.uk