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Since 2001, The Speaker’s Advisory Committee for Works of Art have appointed an official election artist for each General Election. This artist follows the election trail around the UK, and produces artwork based on their observations. In 2017, Cornelia Parker RA was selected. Her time as the official Election Artist led to the production of two works of digital art, and a series of photographic prints which are now part of the Parliamentary Art Collection. This exhibition presents the works of art produced during the commission, as well as two behind the scenes films which capture the development of the artworks.

Cornelia Parker

On the Trail

A woman standing with hands on her hips, looking upwards and smiling. She wears a black dress with long white striped sleeves, and her brown hair in a short bob style. She is in the House of Commons chamber - the space contains green leather benches, wooden panelling, and a palain carpet with two long red stripes. A large table with books and other objects in top is behind her. There is also a large green leather chair with a decorative wooden canopy, which is slightly out of focus in the background.
Cornelia Parker standing in the House of Commons Chamber. Photo credit: UK Parliament

During the campaign period, Cornelia Parker immersed herself in election activity. An impartial witness to events, she travelled the length and breadth of the United Kingdom observing electioneering activities of all the main political parties. She attended hustings, party manifesto launches, marches and televised debates, and met with voters and candidates across the country.

Equipped with an iPhone camera, Parker captured images and short videos of her experiences, sharing them on Instagram. In this way, she created her own alternative media coverage, reacting to each twist and turn of the campaign, responding to an election that turned out to be full of surprises. Her coverage of the campaign highlighted the social and political issues which dominated the debates and the headlines in the run up to the Election. 

This two part film documents her time on the trail.

Election Abstract

Election Abstract is an animation of over a thousand original photographs and videos that were posted on an Instagram feed as a personal diary of the election trail and its aftermath. It records travels to various UK cities on the campaign trail in pursuit of party manifesto launches, debates and public demonstrations. Sometimes Parker acted as part of the press pack, but often worked as a lone observer.

In the period leading up to, throughout, and immediately after the election campaign there were multiple terrorist attacks: Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge, and Finsbury Park Mosque. The Grenfell Tower fire disaster also occurred shortly after the election. The never-ending news cycle is intercut with pressing issues and anxieties expressed by the public and witnessed by the artist.

Election Abstract, Cornelia Parker, Looped video with sound, 2017, 3 minutes 9 seconds. © Cornelia Parker. Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7611

Selected photographs from Election Abstract

A series of 14 photographs were selected from Election Abstract and are part of the Parliamentary Art Collection as photographic prints. Click an image to see more details.

  • A landscape piece of white paper with black writing reading ‘OUT OF ORDER’ stuck on a wooden door. The sign is stuck on using two pieces of red and white striped thick tape. The wooden door is panelled and has the word ‘GENTLEMAN’ painted on it, which can be seen just underneath the white sign.
    Out of Order Gentlemen, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7625
  • Photograph of a metal object on a worktop. The object is rectangular, with one flat surface facing front. There is a white stripe of paint horizontal along the object, and the word ‘OUT’ is handwritten in black marker. It is very scratched. Behind the object is a painted white brick wall, a plastic bag and an brown envelope.
    OUT, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7617
  • Two stacks of newspapers side by side. The left-hand side newspaper is the Daily Mirror, with the headline ‘Lies, damned lies and Theresa May’, and the subtitle ‘Don’t condemn Britain to five more years of Tory broken promises’. This is printed over a photograph of Theresa May mid-speech, looking serious and with her mouth open. In the top right, and illustration of a voting paper reading ‘June 8 2017’ and the words ‘For the many not for the few VOTE LABOUR’. The right-hand side newspaper is the Sun. The headline reads ‘Don’t chuck Britain in the… Cor-Bin’. The photograph o the front page is a photoshopped image of Jeremy Corbyn inside a metal rubbish bin. He is wearing a suit and time and his eyes are looking off to the left. Two hands are over the end of the bin, and there is a bin lid balancing on his head. In the top right of the page, there is text reading ‘Election 2017. We’ve had enough of Jezza’s rubbish… VOTE TORY’. Around the two newspapers we can see some packets of breakfast bars, and part of a blue newsstand backboard.
    Left and Right, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7614
  • The top half of smartphone. The phone is displaying a bright red rectangle with the words ‘Exit poll. Holy shit!!!’ written in white. Below this we can see it has 13 likes and 14 comments. Behind the smartphone is a neutral grey-green background.
    Holy Shit!!!!, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7624
  • A man laying on the ground cuddling a dog. To the right of the pair is a cap with some coins inside. The man is wearing a grey top, black trousers, black boots and a raincoat tied around his waist. He has mid length brown hair, and a dark bandage or thick bracelet around his wrist. He is cuddling a mid-size white dog with a pink nose and black collar – the dog is wresting its head on the man’s neck, and has its eyes closed. The ground is large grey paving stones.
    Recumbant Man, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7621
  • A colour print newspaper on the ground, sopping wet and turning to mush. The ground is wet dark tarmac.
    Yesterday’s News, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7615
  • The words ‘CUT HERE’ are in pink lettering. The lettering is peeling paint upon black, and green has been painted around it, making most of the image green. There are various small holes all over the surface. A fabric cord cuts diagonally from the top left to the bottom centre-left of the image.
    Cut Here, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7620
  • An urban scene with two open gates. The left hand gate reads ‘PEOPLE FOR BYN’, and the right hand gate reads ‘THE COR’. The text is painted in red with black and white outlines, in a street art style. The gates are tall with a solid bottom half, which the text is painted on, and a metal grid upper half. In between the open gates is the back end of a red double decker bus and two people walking past in opposite directions. There is a row of shops behind the road, and a green tree can be seen emerging behind the bus. The sky is grey. In the foreground, the ground is brown concrete, before becoming a tarmac pavement and then road.
    Carwash, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7622
  • A man with a large camera around his neck approaching a large navy-blue door. The man wears blue jeans and a black jacket. His right hand is reaching towards the letterbox of the door, his left hand is holding his camera. He is turning away from the door with slightly bent legs. His face is captured mid-speaking, and his eyebrows are raised. The wall beside the door is white with a black trim below.
    Paparazzi (Chatham House), Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7623
  • A cardboard placard with the writing ‘GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUNDING FOR RIGOROUS EXPERIMENTS WITH ROBUST HYPOTHESES’. The text is blue, with the letters ‘FUN’ in red. The placard is sticking out of the red backpack of a person wearing a black jacket with short dark hair and glasses. The person is standing near a pedestrian crossing amongst other people, but this is the only sign in the image. In the background is a road surface and a large building with many windows. The sky is grey.
    Girls Just Wanna Have Funding, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7612
  • The reverse side of a cardboard placard. It has lots of colourful strips of tape across it, in red, pink, yellow, blue, orange, and blue. They are used to attach the handle to the placard, and also to attach a red and white plastic long thin strip across horizontally. In the background are lots of people, green leafy trees, and part of tall stone building.
    Protest Placard (Verso), Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7613
  • A person laying down in a doorway on a bright day. The person is young with dark hair and a dark beard, and their eyes are closed. They are wearing a black jacket, green shirt, and grey jogging bottoms rolled up. They have grey trainers on. They are laying down on their back with their legs crossed and their arms underneath their head. They are on the step of a wide wooden door with a golden door knob, The door is in a grey stone façade. The ground is paved with grey bricks.
    Reclining Figure, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7619
  • Sign reading ‘SMILE MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY’. The sign is written on slightly worn looking cardboard with blue biro pen. Is it a decorative bubble style of writing, and the rest of the sign is decorated with stars, and three cartoon smiling characters. One character holds up a hand, one is making a peace sign with their hand, and one is wearing a hat. The sign is being held by someone’s hands, and they are wearing fingerless gloves. They are sat down, wearing dark jeans and a blue fleece, but the sign covers most of the image. The ground is large pavestones.
    Smile, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7618
  • ‘BEYOND THIS POINT’ written in bold white letters on a dark grey-green wooden sign. Beneath the sign is a small ledge, and some cylindrical wooden posts. The ground is mud and brown leaves.
    Beyond This Point, Print by Cornelia Parker © Cornelia Parker, Photo credit: Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7616

All photographs are copyright of the artist.

Left Right & Centre

The film Left Right & Centre is Parker’s main response to her residency. It features newspapers collected during the 2017 General Election campaign period and the eventful months that followed. The newspapers and their headlines chart the polarised opinions of the Left, Right and Centre.

Filmed in the dark at night and in the light of the following day, the film captures a new perspective of a very familiar space seen from two different points of view; the first a benign dispassionate observer and the second a malign agitator that disrupts and unsettles.

Left Right & Centre, Cornelia Parker, Digital video with sound, 2017, 9 minutes 33 seconds. © Cornelia Parker. Parliamentary Art Collection WOA 7610

These works of art are the first pieces of digital art to join the Parliamentary Art Collection.

More Election Artworks

The Election Artist for the 2019 election was Nicky Hirst. Visit our online exhibition to view the 2019 election artwork.

Explore More