Appearance

2023. HD video, from 4K. Silent. 49 mins 30 secs

In the video work Appearance, Young extends her ongoing artistic interest in the law, developed over the past two decades. This silent, filmic portrait presents a series of fifteen UK female judges - diverse in seniority, age and ethnicity - in their judicial robes looking straight at the camera. With almost forensic close-ups of hair, shoes, jewellery and regalia, the camera plays off the judges’ roles as powerful, self-possessed public intellectuals against their varied physical presence and the quirks of individual personalities. Sitters including Dame Vivien Rose, Justice of the Supreme Court, exhibit a mix of studied neutrality and a complex interiority. Stylistically poised between painting and photography, the piece takes inspiration from Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, which in itself was inspired by the ‘most wanted’ ads of the New York Police Dept. Whilst countering the familiar patriarchal culture of law, Appearance places the viewer in the dock, and centres on ideas of judgement between viewer and judge, on judging as performance, and on the power relations between judge and camera. Projected at 6 metres wide, the piece takes on a sculptural, even architectural presence within a gallery space.

This work debuted in Carey Young’s solo exhibition at Modern Art Oxford, March 25 -July 2nd 2023. Info here.

Watch a video clip of Young talking about Appearance here (90 secs) and here (4 mins 20 secs)

Press quotes:
Young’s “enduring fascination with justice and the law has yielded an outstanding new film in a riveting retrospective.” Laura Cumming, The Guardian, 26 March 2023

“The effect is uncanny. These women are accustomed to embodying legal authority and to listening and deliberating with a certain gravitas. Seeing them express their own forms distinct of composure—and concomitant hints of humor, playfulness, inscrutability, or imperturbability—while gazing into the camera and then gradually moving in to study the pulse behind their ears gives new dimensions to the old maxim “justice must be seen to be done” and to our understanding of female power.” Toby Kamps, The Brooklyn Rail, June 2023

“Sitting on a bench being stared at by a judge is typically a moment to think hard about prior life choices. While entirely voluntary on the part of exhibition viewers, the experience of Carey Young’s Appearance at Paula Cooper Gallery involves an unsettling confrontation with embodied power. (…) At certain moments during the titular 49:30-minute video, the close-up vantage point shifts to views showing the full studio setup. This demonstration of the apparatus is fascinating in its own right, but it also draws attention to the remarkable fact that Young convinced this array of powerful individuals to participate. They look at us via the mediation of the camera’s invasive gaze.” Martha Buskirk, Hyperallergic, Jan 2024

Press coverage includes:
Buskirk, Martha, ‘Carey Young’s Reflections on the Trappings of Power’, Hyperallergic, Jan 30 2024
Corwin, William, ‘Carey Young: Appearance’, The Brooklyn Rail, Feb 2024
Kamps, Toby, ‘Carey Young: Appearance’, The Brooklyn Rail, June
Sheerin, Mark, ‘Carey Young: Appearance, Modern Art Oxford’, The Arts Desk, 15 June
Jennings, Will, ‘Carey Young: Making Space’, Recessed Space, June
'The Five Best Shows in the UK, June 2023’, Frieze, May 26
Wade, Cathy, ‘Carey Young Takes a Portrait of Female Power’, Frieze, May
Cumming, Laura, ‘Carey Young: Appearance review – the faces of female justice’, The Observer, 26 March
Carey-Kent, Paul, ‘Carey Young, Interview of the Month’, ArtLyst, April
'Placing the Viewer in the Dock’, Law Society Gazette, 17 March
'Out of Court: Women of the Judiciary’, The Times, 16 March


The artist is grateful for the following support: Arts Council England, Modern Art Oxford Commissioning Circle, UCL Grand Challenges, UCL HEIF Knowledge and Innovation Fund, UCL Dean’s Award, UCL Judicial Institute & Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. With additional thanks to: The Lord Chief Justice, Ede & Ravenscroft, Slade School of Fine Art and Prof. Cheryl Thomas, UCL Judicial Institute.