On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Here is a Gale Warning

Photograph
1971 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Finn-Kelcey, Rose (photographer)
Place of origin
London (photographed)

Between 1968 and 1973 Rose Finn-Kelcey made a series of flags which she flew from the top of various European landmarks. These ‘wind-blown objects’ bore messages referring to the elements and were related to the kinetic art and concrete poetry of the time. Here is a Gale Warning was unfurled above Alexandra Palace, London. Humorously engaging with the esoteric and the immaterial, the photograph acts both as a document of a site-specific event and as an art work in its own right.

Object details

Category
Photographs
Object type
Photograph
TitleHere is a Gale Warning (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Silver-bromide print, dry-mounted
Brief description
Photograph entitled 'Here is a Gale Warning', 1971 by Rose Finn-Kelcey (born Northampton 1945)
Physical description
Photograph of a wind blown flag emblazoned with 'Here is a Gale Warning'.
Dimensions
  • Height: 48cm
  • Width: 63cm
Gallery label
(20/02/2006)
Between 1968 and 1973 Rose Finn-Kelcey made a series of flags which she flew from the top of various European landmarks. These ‘windblown objects’ bore messages that referred to the elements and related to wider explorations of kinetic art and concrete poetry at the time. Here is a Gale Warning was unfurled above Alexandra Palace, London. Humorously engaging with the esoteric and the immaterial, the photograph acts both as a document of a site-specific event and as an artwork in its own right.
(May 2023)
Between 1968 and 1973, Finn-Kelcey created a series of works by flying flags bearing messages related to the weather from various landmarks. This photograph documents one of these site-specific events and is an artwork in its own right.
As a piece of kinetic (movement) art, the flag only functioned during high winds, rendering the message on it redundant. The flag acts as a visual representation of the invisible power of the wind.
Credit line
Purchased through the Cecil Beaton Royalties Fund
Subjects depicted
Wind
Flag
Summary
Between 1968 and 1973 Rose Finn-Kelcey made a series of flags which she flew from the top of various European landmarks. These ‘wind-blown objects’ bore messages referring to the elements and were related to the kinetic art and concrete poetry of the time. Here is a Gale Warning was unfurled above Alexandra Palace, London. Humorously engaging with the esoteric and the immaterial, the photograph acts both as a document of a site-specific event and as an art work in its own right.
Bibliographic reference
Apollo Magazine, February 2007
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.365-2005

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Record createdAugust 26, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115811/here-is-a-gale-warning-photograph-finn-kelcey-rose/
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