Andy Parsons' works might sometimes look like things you'd see down the local tip, but his love of piling up objects and ordering chaos has a firm foundation.
| Μύ |  | Etching in Plaster with pencils and Drawer by Andy Parsons
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Visitors to Nuneaton and Bedworth Museum and Art Gallery and Rugby Art Gallery should be familiar with his work from recent shows.
His collections of found objects and original sculptures are disturbing because they create a war-time atmosphere, where chaos and desperation reign.
Encounter his barricades face-on with our online gallery of some of his work. Just click the images button below to launch the gallery.
The fascinating area of conflict and barriers first grabbed Andy's interest on a trip to France. As he described: "My recent prints, paintings, drawing and sculptures are based on barricades or things that get in the way.
| Μύ |  | Liberty Defiantly Holding Aloft the Wrong Flag by Andy Parsons
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The idea came about after a trip to Paris started me thinking about urban conflicts (1848, 1870, 1968 etc.) I was intrigued by the idea of hastily assembled [defence] structures made of miscellaneous objects."
Andy used drawings and installation to explore the meeting of the public and the private. He has an interest in how experiences define identity and so used the barricades to look at the nature of conflict and how it affects the community.
 My aim is to open up this dialogue to viewers...asking them to think about their own ideas about barricades and the things that get in their way.
 | Μύ | Andy Parsons
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In jumbling up different objects, Andy realised he was also borrowing style from different periods in art history.
He said: "The process of making these works revealed to me that I was also looking at Modernism - as I found it impossible not to quote from Daumier and Picasso, (amongst others). I found that I was not only jumbling together objects, but also styles."
He developed this barricade idea when he returned to painting and made a number of works " literally about things that get in the way".
| Μύ |  | Scenic by Andy parsons
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He says these are part of an ongoing study that questions modernity , politics, autobiography and interpretation, adding: "My aim is to open up this dialogue to viewers, by presenting them with a combination of painting drawing and sculpture and asking them to think about their own ideas about barricades and the things that get in their way."
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