Michael Landy: Patron Saint of Destruction at National Gallery in London

THE GUARDIAN
By Charlotte Higgins

Michael Landy as St Jerome, 2012. © Michael Landy, courtesy
of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London / Photo: The National Gallery, London

UNITED KINGDOM---Michael Landy is a peculiar choice as resident artist of the National Gallery in London: until he was offered the two-year role, he'd never been. "This is like confessing," he says guiltily. Landy has what you might call an irreverent attitude to objects. In the end – and here we come back to Landy's religious upbringing – I like the stories and their attributes." By this, he means the fact that St Catherine can be recognised by the wheel she carries, St Lucy by a pair of eyes in a dish, St Peter Martyr by the knife slashing through his skull – all references to violent deaths the saints met. He laughs nervously. "For this exhibition, I am going to be martyred." [link]

Self-Flagellator, Michael Landy in his National Gallery studio,
wearing the arm of St Jerome. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian