About the Work
"We intend to make a painting in 2005 and call it 'Hostage; A Roadsign at Warkworth Crossroads.'" The page of text placed on top of 'Hostage XXI' almost fills the pictorial area. It describes precisely what the planned work was to look like. Aesthetically speaking, the screen print with black letters on a white background looks like a computer-generated document, which nearly blocks our view of the picture behind it. The oil painting is of architectural structures faintly reminiscent of a row of houses rotated at a ninety-degree angle. Nonetheless, no connection can be established between the architectural space and the work described in the text. Art & Language stands for text-based conceptual art. Founded in 1968, the artists' collective campaigned for more theoretical training, reflection and discussion in the art sector and, with works such as 'Hostage XXI', questioned the conditions of production processes in the art system. What prompted its founding members to establish the group was their dissatisfaction with the lack of theoretical discussions at their art college.
