Lee Scratch Perry, Bird War (2019), via Cabinet
Over the course of his life, musician Lee “Scratch” Perry was a seminal and exploratory producer, a seminal voice in the development and export of Jamaican dub reggae to the UK, US and beyond. Forging an experimental and esoteric arc in his work that mined pop culture, surrealism, and spiritual tenets of rastafarianism, Perry was also an avid painter and fine artist, creating dense, swirling series of allusions on paper, canvas, and other repurposed materials. Throughout, the artist’s work mirrored the playful and cartoonish nature of the characters and worlds he built on record. The artist’s work is the subject of a show at Cabinet in London this month, celebrating the late artist with a sprawling selection of works.
Lee Scratch Perry, Ark Work (Installation View), via Cabinet
Lee Scratch Perry, Vanity Painting (2020), via Cabinet
Throughout the show, Perry’s mining of the Jamaican landscape is apparent, from portraits of Haile Selassie to the materials themselves – street signs, rocks, sticks, and other materials culled from the artist’s daily meanderings are here twisted into spiritual and psychedlic new arrangements. Crosses are dotted with stuffed animals and other detritus, while in other corners cassettes and VHS tapes are glued to other surfaces. Perry seems to be a constant embellisher, collaging and collecting, pasting and merging elements in the same way that his music saw him twisting and mangling sounds.
Lee Scratch Perry, Kermit-Pole (Blue Ark) (2016-2021), via Cabinet
Dub, a skeletal and interpretive form that involves re-recording studio sessions with elements stripped out and the bass and drums notched up in the mix, is a potent analog. Much in the same way, Perry lets his chosen subjects and materials surge forth from a soup of minimal strokes and referents. Love and War, spirit and earth are alluded to repeatedly, structuring a complex internal cosmology that informed much of Perry’s work.
Lee Scratch Perry, Ark Work (Installation View), via Cabinet
A rare look at Perry’s internal mythology, and the objects that dotted the landscape of his daily life, the show is a special opportunity for both art and music enthusiasts.
The show closes May 6th.
– D. Creahan
Read more:
Lee Scratch Perry at Cabinet [Exhibition Site]
