Alison Jackson
Alison Jackson
Alison Jacksonis a British BAFTA and multi award-winning artist who explores the cult of celebrity culture - an extraordinary phenomenon created by the media and publicity industries. Jackson makes convincingly realistic work about celebrities doing things in private using lookalikes. She creates scenarios we have all imagined but never seen before. Jackson comments on the public's voyeurism, the power and seductive nature of imagery, and on their need to believe. The artist's work has established wide respect for her as...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionArtist
Date of Birth15 May 1960
It's always fun to put fake celebrities in unlikely situations, but somehow it's even more fun when politicians are involved.
I'd like to take more pictures of real celebrities. It would be fabulous to photograph Brad Pitt. He's so good-looking and just such a star.
I'm not really interested in the celebrity themselves. I'm interested in the perception of the celebrity.
The only people I really hate are parking attendants.
Now celebrity has taken on a holy status all of its own, and we look to the stars to provide us with the transcendental experience that was once achieved through religion.
Warhol was the ultimate voyeur, constantly observing people through the lens. He watched and listened, but did not participate. Behind the camera, Warhol was in control.
Career-wise, I feel very lucky to have always been able to follow my creative path.
Among other things, I use a Samsung mobile phone, a very bad quality video camera, and an old Olympus with extremely bad Sigma lenses.
I am fascinated by the Royal Family because they are shrouded in mystique, and the Queen, and to a certain extent William, represent fabulous blank canvases. I find the Prince of Wales less fascinating because he spills the beans and we know too much about him.
You can't rely on your own perception when it comes to anything. You can always be proved wrong.
I'm particularly interested in how you can't rely on your own perception.
Celebrities do look different in real life from our images of them - there is a big gap. And that is what my work is about: the gap between the image and the celebrity themselves.
A lot of people who look at my photographs think it is an easy joke, but it does take a bit of thinking about.
I'm not satirical in a traditional way. What I do is more about creating caricatures and cartoons. I am commentating on the nature of how we live through photography, and how you can twist an angle to create a different perception of a person.