About the work

I have been working with the idea of the red spot for a few years now. I like it as a signifier of worth – of approval. The man in the (found) photo is getting a medal of some sort in a ceremonial situation. The endorsing him by giving him a red spot on his nose punctures the pomp somewhat.

The title Spot On gives him clown characteristics – with approval of its reversed status.

 

Date and country of birth

1956, GB

Career Highlights

In 2022 Cornelia Parker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the Arts and awarded an honorary fellowship at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. In 2023 Parker was commissioned by the Government Art Collection to create works in response to Coronation of King Charles III.

Over the last three decades, she has presented numerous major commissions and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally, including a career retrospective at Tate Britain (2022); at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2019); Westminster Hall, Palace of Westminster (2017); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2016); The Whitworth, the University of Manchester (2015); British Library, London (2015); BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2010); Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru (2008),;Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2007) and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas (2006).

Parker was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts, London, made an OBE in 2010 and a CBE in 2022. She was elected the Apollo Awards Artist of the Year in 2016, and the following year, awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester. In 2017, she was appointed as the first female Election Artist for the United Kingdom General Election. She was made an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 2021. Her works are held in public and private collections around the world including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Fundación “la Caixa”, Barcelona, The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum, New York and the Tate Gallery, London.