Brass cast
10.5cm x 11cm x 4cm
Edition of 21
Signed and numbered
This limited edition was produced on the occasion of Becky Beasley’s project A Slight Nausea at the SLG in 2014.
Astray is a brass cast of a cheap plastic hotel ashtray with the word ‘Astray’ added in Gloucester MT Extra Condensed lettering. Technically a malapropism, the omission of the letter ‘h’ from the word ashtray (a nod to Richard Hamilton’s iconic addition of the letter ‘h’ to a French Ricard ashtray to write Richard) opens up a wild new dimension to the work, whilst also highlighting the Greek root word, Astra, meaning ‘from the stars’. An untimely object in light of smoking bans and public health campaigns the production of an ashtray in 2014 is both about loss and celebration, but also about the repurposing of a type of object which, in eBay searches, one finds regularly described not only as ashtray, but also as small pot, bowl, or tea-light holder. Considering the array of potential purposes the owner is invited to make their own decision as to exactly what use the work might serve for them.
ABOUT BECKY BEASLEY
Becky Beasley, born in 1975, lives and works in Hastings. She graduated with an MFA from the Royal College of Art in 2002. At the time of her project at the South London Gallery, her solo exhibitions included The Outside at Tate Britain (2012) and Spring Rain at Spike Island Bristol and Leeds Art Gallery (2013). Group exhibitions include The Narrators: Works from the Arts Council Collection, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (2013); Think Twice, Whitechapel Gallery (2013); The Imaginary Museum, Kunstverein Munich (2012).
All proceeds directly support the South London Gallery’s programmes.
