Rally Cry

This series of work is part of Clinker, 1984-85, a project in which Vaughan created a visual art's response to the 1980’s UK mining strike.

The image of Union banners is inseparable from that of protesting miners. For his take on the historical banners Vaughan makes use of hard-ground etching to print onto fabric and create Rally Cry, six banners that evoke the themes with the greatest impact throughout that year-long strike: Violent confrontation, Poverty, Scabs, Government strategy, NUM strategy and Re-development. The pieces in Rally Cry are printed black on white, a stark departure from the eye-catching, rich colours that this type of banners usually displays. The monotone work acknowledges a world where everything was tinted dark from coal dust, and a strike action that split the country in half, with no middle tones.