A strange story from the archives of the South London Gallery……
When Portuguese artist Joao Penalva was invited in 1997 to create an artwork linked to the archives of the South London Gallery, he discovered a lock of hair of the writer, philosopher and philanthropistJohn Ruskin contained in an old wooden frame and used this as his inspiration for creating another 7 old frames in which he placed similar locks of hair, so that the viewer could not tell which was real, a copy or a fake – making a comment on the art world.
So much, so good. Then things become mysterious. At an exhibition of the work at the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2002, one of the 8 frames mysteriously vanished – stolen. As it transpired, it was one of the fakes, intrinsically valueless but now with an insurance value as an artwork. Fortunately it was recovered having been apparently sold in Bermondsey Market.
Then, a decade later, at an exhibition in the Kunsthallen Brandts in Odense, Denmark, the opposite happened – mysteriously a 9th framed lock of hair appeared alongside the other 8 and, although it was quickly removed by staff, it was noted and became hot news….
A mystery which was never solved……
