Artist inspired by Robin Hood for exhibition

IF YOU'VE been walking through the Lace Market recently, you might have come across a crowd of miniskirted merry women.

The women in question are actually mannequins, which stand in the front window of the new Nottingham Contemporary art gallery and wear the work of Lisa Anne Auerbach.

The Los Angeles-based artist has created a collection which weaves Nottingham's "rebel heritage", inspired by Robin Hood, into knitted jumpers and matching skirts.

The exhibition is called Take This Knitting Machine and Shove It and, despite the confrontational title, uses knitwear to provoke a good-humoured political discussion.

The jumpers carry slogans which Lisa took from various local and international sources – Luddite songs, French revolutionary writing, post-9/11 newspaper headlines and contemporary philosophy.

Some of the more notable ones are "We are all terrorists" and "Strangle the last King with the entrails of the last priest".

Lisa spent a lot of time researching Robin Hood as part of the project. She said: "I had a certain fantasy about what I wanted Robin to be and I found out that wasn't really the case.

"When I started reading more about him, there were mentions of the King and him caring what the King thought, and it seemed like there was a relationship between him and the state."

Although Lisa used Nottingham's Robin Hood heritage and the history of the Lace Market as inspiration for the exhibit, she said the political messages found on the jumpers were more personal to her.

Lisa said: "The sweaters I make are all in my size and I wear them in a proclamation of belief and to spread the word about things I'm interested in. But I took Robin Hood as a jumping-off point, inspired by his rebellious nature."

The mannequins are surrounded by photographs of Lisa in the jumpers in a forest setting. Not able to come to Sherwood Forest for the shoot, Lisa had to find the next best thing – in America.

She said: "The first place I looked at was the Robin Hood Hotel and Resort which is up in Big Bear, California and it's just terrible and tacky. They have a restaurant called Nottingham, though!

"Then I went to The Robin Hood Lake, but it was just a concrete ditch. I finally settled on an LA park, as I wanted a big tree to represent the Major Oak."

Lisa's use of America to represent Sherwood Forest is not unusual, as Hollywood's image of Robin Hood is arguably the most common depiction these days.

She said: "I liked the idea that the Hollywood version of Robin Hood is what is really broadcast to the world, so I had fun playing with that."

Take This Knitting Machine and Shove It will be at Nottingham Contemporary until October 18.

riah.matthews@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk