New exhibition at Saatchi Gallery explores experimental and unusual image-making practices

Thomas Mailaender “sunburns” cyanotypes of found images onto people’s bodies, Kate MccGuire creates large sculptures by repetitively layering crow feathers that echo the curved sculptures of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and Josh Faught uses the tradition of crochet, knitting, and tapestry-making to explore queer identity and history.

While this group cannot be described as iconoclasts in the traditional sense of the word, they are all driven by an iconoclastic urge, which manifests itself in the intriguingly diverse and often destructive ways they produce art. A startling number of materials and techniques cohabit in one exhibition, where abstraction, figuration, creation and deconstruction combine.

By defying typical creative processes, the artists are exploring what modern iconoclasm might be, and seek to engage contemporary culture, politics and imagery within a range of diverse image-making practices.

Main image: Maurizio Anzeri, Giovanni, 2009. Photographic print with embroidery 51 x 41 cm © Maurizio Anzeri, 2017. Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London