This is essay is devoted to the comparison between the infamous police mugshot of Myra Hindley and Marcus Harvey’s large scale painting, simply titled Myra. Both are identical, but entirely different at the same time, offering polarising reactions.
Harvey’s work is essentially a recreation of Myra Hindley’s infamous police mugshot, which was taken at the time of arrest to allow for identification reasons [1]. During the heights of the investigation (October 1965) the set of two photographs was consistently republished in any and all newspapers across the country. Any form of story relating to the murders would take advantage of the photos, especially that of Myra Hindley, as she has a distinctly sinister look spread across her face. Newspapers used this ‘look’ to sensationalise how evil they thought she was. Society wasn’t willing to accept that a woman could be this ‘evil’, where it was preconceived that woman would be caring and loving in the face of any circumstance that may arise.
"the most evil woman in Britain"
[1]
However, the main reason this particular image was used was to shock the reader into disbelief that a woman would be capable of such horrific events – this was the first time in recorded British history a woman was involved in a killing partnership, the ‘Moors Murders’. ‘’Myra Hindley was convicted of murdering and torturing young children and disposing of their bodies at Saddlesworth Moore, Manchester, alongside her partner and accomplice Ian Brady. Her involvement put her under public scrutiny: society could not grasp why a woman would willingly take active part in brutally killing children. Her crimes are at the heart of this investigation as supporting evidence that women killers are represented as non-woman by media coverage and through supporting ideology.’’[2]. Hindley was represented in a way that would arouse a ‘’negative response from a global audience and ultimately to portray her as non-woman through the ideology of her breaking the traditional social norms of a woman: tender loving and child bearing.’’[2].
Society could not grasp why a woman would willingly take active part in brutally killing children. At the time the newspapers took this general societal view, and used it as a way to sensationalise the crime committed because of the fact a woman had committed it. This sexist view within society gave the story much more of a shock factor, allowing for more people to talk about it, in turn giving the newspapers more of a reason to give it such extensive coverage.
Second we will analyse the way in which the work of Marcus Harvey has been influenced by broader cultural and social contexts.
Myra, by Marcus Harvey, was created in 1995 [6] – 30 years after the original photograph was published. It was subsequently put on display at the Sensation exhibition of Young British Artists at the Royal Academy of Art in London from 8th September to 28th December 1997. The work measures 9 by 11 feet (2.7 by 3.4 m) [6]. At first sight, it resembles a greatly enlarged version of a black and white photograph printed in a newspaper. It was made using casts of an infant's hand to build up a mosaic of black, grey and white handprints, creating a reproduction of the iconic police photograph of a hard-faced Myra Hindley with bouffant peroxide blonde hair taken after her arrest in 1965. [6]
Harvey declared that he regarded the handprint as “one of the most dignified images that I could find. The most simple image of innocence absorbed in all that pain.” It could be argued that the largely media-fuelled furore over the painting – which was attacked with eggs and ink – only served to vindicate his original intention: to make the work stand as a critique of the way that the press had treated the Hindley story. [4] I strongly believe that Harvey used this piece of artwork to comment on the story was made more than maybe it should have been, by taking advantage of the viewer (reader). Successfully inciting a reaction by exposing the common conception held by the public proved to garner as much traction as the story itself. This shows that it is hard to change the minds of the many, especially when a certain point of view is being recited back, even after 30 odd years.
The use of a child’s hand is extremely powerful in this piece of work as it directly relates back to the crimes committed by Myra Hindley and her husband, whereby they murdered their own children. Using the hands to then reconstruct her face brings about a sense of refute. You could also say that the hands of said child are fighting back in a way that was not possible before. Furthermore, it gives the children a strength that would normally not be possible, via the medium of art.
The piece caused such a reaction that it was attacked twice, before having to be restored and then placed behind Perspex glass with security officers guarding it. [3]. One protester shouted to bewildered onlookers: "No one should be allowed to make money or fame out of the death of little children." [3]. Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, urging them not to view the Hindley picture. "They used to hang killers on the gallows. Now they hang them in the gallery," they yelled. [3].
Both pieces of work elicited extreme reactions from the public in entirely different ways, even when they are so similar in substance and image. The mugshot characterised the subject and consequently made the public despise her. However, the work by Harvey garnered a response aimed directly at him, whereby they seemed to forget the truly atrocious crimes that were committed by the pair of murderers. Also lost with the rage was Harvey’s original message relating to the way the press treats the subjects of its stories, often defaming them at the prospect of a headline and a heap of sales.
References
[1] Various. (2018). Mug shot. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mug_shot. [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.
[2] SPURLING, E. (2017). Media Representations of Women who Kill, Portray them as ‘Non-woman, Mad and Bad’ MYRA HINDLEY. [online] Esmé Spurling. Available at: https://esmespurlingmedia.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/media-representations-of-women-who-kill-portray-them-as-non-woman-mad-and-bad-myra-hindley/ [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
[3] Blanchard, T. (2017). Arts: Sensation as ink and egg are thrown at Hindley portrait. [online] The Independent. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/arts-sensation-as-ink-and-egg-are-thrown-at-hindley-portrait-1239892.html [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
[4] Buck, L. (2017). Audacious, ambiguous, important: Marcus Harvey's Inselaffe at Jerwood Gallery. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/art/marcus-harvey-inselaffe-at-jerwood-gallery-review/ [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
[5] En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Moors murders. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moors_murders [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
[6] En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Myra (painting). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myra_(painting) [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].
[7] Trivedi, P. (2017). Is it art? Or an insult? | Pi. [online] Pimediaonline.co.uk. Available at: http://pimediaonline.co.uk/muse/arts/is-it-art-or-an-insult/ [Accessed 30 Nov. 2017].