Ciarán Finlayson: Perpetual Slavery

Floating Opera Press, 2023, Softcover, 80 pages, 17 × 12 cm

In Perpetual Slavery, Ciarán Finlayson investigates the relationship of art to freedom in the work of Cameron Rowland and Ralph Lemon, who both utilize imagery of labour haunted and structured by the historical experience of slavery. Finlayson suggests that these two artists’ work overcomes the dichotomy between the recording of history and its interpretation by making both the object of artistic experience, thereby providing a space to grasp the continuing effects of slavery.

Ciarán Finlayson is a writer and editor based in New York. His essays have appeared in periodicals including Artforum, Bookforum, 032C, and in several exhibition catalogues. He is the managing editor of Blank Forms Editions.